Kingdom Hearts: Light Within The Dark
by TheShadowHunterXIII
Summary: An Alternative Universe of Kingdom Hearts. I have seen Aqua trapped in the Realm of Darkness for years. Seeing the girl trapped there with no hope or salvation, makes my heart ache. In this story, I have decided to set myself on a journey to find and rescue Aqua from her terrible fate.
1. The Orphan

**A/N: Like I said, there are times when I wish I could rescue Aqua from the Realm of Darkness, so I've decided to write it into a story. I thought it would be interesting. I'll be looking forward to reviews of what you think of the story.**

**Oh, and to the "Fuckahotchick" guest who's been reviewing my stories: KNOCK IT OFF! Your Rated M story request has been DENIED!**

World: Land of Departure

* * *

A world in between the realms of light and dark, yet the world is strong in the light. In a castle, a keyblade master, Master Eraqus, lives with his three pupils: Ventus, Aqua and Terra. Master Eraqus trains his pupils into coming keyblade masters.

But for today, the young trio are taking the day off. Aqua decided to go for a walk in the forest near by the castle. Terra and Ven are left just doing some sparring out on the castle courtyard.

The woods are lovely at this time of day, rays of the sunlight shining through the color leafs in the trees. Aqua thinks it's a beautiful sight.

Aqua takes a deep breath through the nose and exhales a sigh. "What a wonderful day for some relaxation."

For a while, Aqua's been walking through the forest. Up until she reaches to the deep part of the forest, where there's a river that's about knee deep. Aqua takes off her shoes and long black stockings so she could rest her feet in the water.

Aqua sits back on a rock, feet in the water, eyes closed and feeling the gentle breeze and listening to the peaceful noise of birds singing and the rivers current flowing. Aqua couldn't have hoped to be anywhere else on her day off.

However, something caught her attention. At one end, of Aqua's sight, of the river, a little boy unconscious hanging onto a log is flowing with the current. I'll give you a hint, that little boy is me.

Aqua is surprised to see this. "Wha?" Aqua stands on her feet, watching me move closer to her location. At about thirty yards away, Aqua gets into the water, walking up to me. She stops my body from moving then pulls me to the ground.

Aqua lays me on my back, getting a close look at me. I look to be about five years old, in rugged poor clothes, wet even due to being in the river. Aqua puts an ear on my chest, I'm not breathing. She puts two fingers on the wrist, closing her eyes to concentrate. She found a pulse, but it's very weak.

Aqua opens her eyes and gasps when she felt the pulse. "He's alive." Without any hesitation, Aqua lifts me in her arms, making a run for it, then quickly runs back to remember to pick up her shoes and stockings.

Meanwhile, Terra and Ven are right now sparring with each other in the courtyard. Ven just got his butt whopped for the tenth time...in the past half hour.

Ven groans in frustration as he sits up. "It's not fair!" Ven shouts.

"What isn't?" Terra asks.

"Battling you! You're like twice my size, Terra!" Ven says. "You're like a building with feet. When Aqua spars with me, she'd always go easy on me."

"Hey. It's not my fault I'm bigger then you." Terra says. Master Eraqus starts to walk out of the castle, walking down the stairs towards Ven and Terra. "Come on, on your feet, Ven."

Ven groans in disappointment as he gets back on his feet. Eraqus watches his two students spar with each other, only for ten seconds when Terra knocked Ven in the air and landed on the ground with his Quake ability. Ven yells in frustration, Terra just laughs.

"Oh, Terra. Leave him alone." Terra and Ven turns to see it's Eraqus.

"Oh! Master Eraqus!" Terra stands straight, showing some respect for his master. "It's nothing...I was just sparring with Ven."

"If Aqua were here, Terra, she's teach you a thinng or two messing with little Ven." Eraqus laughs at his little joke. Ven feels offended being called 'little' while Terra feels shamed. Eraqus stops laughing and looks around. "Where is she anyway?"

"She said she was going for a walk." Terra says.

Ven turns to Terra. "Shouldn't she have been back by now?"

Terra strokes his chin, thinking. Just then, someone from a distance calls. "Terra! Ven!" Terra and Ven turns to the direction of the sound, Eraqus looks at well.

Aqua is running up to them. Soon enough, she's in front of them, out of breath. "Aqua? What is it?"

Aqua takes a moment to catch her breath. She stands straight, showing the little boy in her arms. The boys and the master are surprised to see me. Aqua explains what happened in the woods. In no time, everyone took me in to be taken care of.

Two hours have passed. The students wait outside of a room for Eraqus is working his light powers to heal me. Ven and Terra are sitting down while Aqua is pacing around. She's really worried about the little boy, Ven and Terra wonders why.

After a while, Eraqus finally comes out. His pupils are gathering in front of the master. "The kid will be fine. He just needs some rest."

Everyone was relieved. "Who is he? I don't think I've seen anyone like him around town." Terra says.

"Me neither." Eraqus turns to Aqua. "Aqua?"

Aqua shook her head. "Me neither. I wonder how he ended up in the river."

"Ventus and I will go around town, see if anyone knows about this boy." Eraqus says. "You two say here and watch over him."

Everyone departed their ways. Eraqus and Ven went into town while Aqua and Terra stays in the castle with me. Hours have passed, Eraqus and Ven have yet to return. Aqua and Terra are setting together next to the bed I'm resting on. I haven't woken up, not once since I was found. There were also no signs of movement or sleep talking, it's as if I'm really is dead, or maybe frozen.

"Do you think he'll awake?" Aqua asks.

"I'm sure he will." Terra turns to look at Aqua. "You seem a bit worried."

"It's just...I haven't seen anyone like this since Ven first came, and him...he's just a little boy." Aqua says. "I just hate to see people, especially kids, in this kind pain and suffering."

Terra knows how she feels. Both of them went through the same experience when they were kids. They were lucky Eraqus was around to help them in their time of need.

Terra puts a hand on Aqua's shoulder, earning her attention. "He'll be fine." Aqua smiles and gives a small nod. "Do you think he's a Keyblade wielder?"

"A kid that young? I find that hard to believe." Aqua says.

Later, Aqua and Terra are now in the kitchen. Aqua is preparing dinner and Terra helps out. The sun is starting to set, filling the skies with a redish-orange color. While dinner's cooking, Eraqus and Ven returns. Eraqus checks on the boy first to see if I need anymore healing, but I don't for I'm still asleep.

After that, he arrives at the dinning room, where dinner is now being served. Everyone sat down and eat at the table, though Aqua and Ven are wondering if they really should dine without the mysterious boy, but Eraqus states that I probably won't wake up anytime soon since I've been asleep all day.

"So. What happened around town?" Aqua asked.

"We couldn't find the boy's parents." Eraqus says.

"When we couldn't find them, we asked around town if anyone knows him." Ven says. "But no one's never seen him before, not even the orphanage knows anything about him."

Terra and Aqua are surprised to hear that. "No way...Could he be an out-worlder?"

Eraqus looks down, stroking his beard. "That's highly unlikely. A child traveling in the outside world all alone, unarmed even."

"You don't think he's from one of the worlds that was taken by the darkness, is he?" Aqua asks, hoping that's not really the case.

"It's possible." Eraqus wonders. "I'm gonna talk to Yen Sid about this, see if he knows anything."

After their conversation, everyone resumes eating, expect for Aqua. She deeply hopes that the boy didn't suffer a horrible tragic, hopefully not far worse then she did.

At night, everyone went to bed while Eraqus is heading for Mysterious Tower to talk to Yen Sid. It's around two in the morning, and Aqua is the only one who's awake. She's laying in bed, just staring at the ceiling with the moonlight brighting up the bed from the windows.

Aqua couldn't turn off her mind, worrying about the boy. The young mage warrior sits up, she turns to the nightstand by her bed. She grabs the picture frame, looking at the picture of herself as a little kid and with her parents. She looks at the picture for a minute, sighs then sets it down and then gets out of bed.

Aqua is only in a light violet nightdress. She walks down the hallway, heading towards the room where the boy sleeps in. She arrives at the door, looking in to see I'm still sleep. Aqua walks up to the side of the bed, she sits on the bed on her knees, next to me.

Aqua just looks at me as she moves her hand to my head, then gives a gentle stroke on the hair. "Could he really be all alone?" Aqua whispers, wondering. "Could he really have lost his world...his family." Aqua lays down next to the little boy on the bed. She didn't bother to get into the covers, but she isn't real cold and she isn't staying real long. "Good night...I hope you'll wake up soon." But that fell short when she slowly drifts into a slumber.

Morning time came by quickly. Eraqus has yet to return from his little errand. Ven and Terra are already awake, but are disappointed to see there's no breakfast being served in the kitchen, since Aqua does the cooking. They figured she could still be asleep, but doesn't bother to check her knowing how she feels to be awaken in the morning. Well Ven's mostly scared to do so, Terra not so much but doesn't want to take the risk.

Aqua slowly starts to awaken. She takes a moment for her eyes to adjust the bright sunlight. When she's fully awake, she's confused. "Wha...?" Aqua looks around, noticing she's in a different room then her own. She suddenly remembers what happened last night. _'Oh...I must have fallen asleep.' _The young women thought.

Aqua rolls her body on the bed, then becomes surprised at what she's looking at. The little boy is staring at her, eyes open, like I'm completely lost. Aqua instantly sits up on the bed, so do I, only more slowly. I don't take his eyes off of Aqua.

Aqua gets out of bed, rushing to the door. "Guys! Guys! Get in here now!"

Aqua stands by the door in the room, looking at me until Terra and Ven rushes in. Terra and Ven are surprised to see me. "He's awake." Terra whispers.

"Hi there." Ven says, as he approaches the boy, but then stops when he notices I'm sliding back, shaking my head. "What's wrong?"

Terra walks up to Ven, putting a hand on his shoulder. "He's probably startled. He is in a strange place surrounded by strange people." Ven felt a little hurt about the 'strange people' comment, but knows it's true. After all, he felt the same-way when he first arrived.

Aqua slowlky walks up to the bed, moving to the other side to get close to me. I slide away from Aqua in worry, not as much as I did before. "Hey now. It's okay." Aqua speaks in a calm tone. She sits on the bed side. "We're not going to hurt you. You're in a safe place."

Aqua smiles at Me. I just look at Aqua, wondering if I should trust her and I do, but only a little. I just slide a little closer to Aqua, only by a few inches. "Would you mind telling us your name?" Aqua asks.

"M-my...my name?" I ask, lost and looking down. "My name is...my..." Aqua starts to wonder if I don't remember my name, as if I'm suffering amnesia. "My name...Patrick? ...I think..." I look up at Aqua. "Ye-yeah...it is."

"That's a nice name." Aqua says. "My name is Aqua." Aqua looks over me at Terra and Ven. "This is Terra and Ventus."

I look back at Terra and Ven. "Terror-ah...Fan-tus..." I look back at Aqua. "Ah-qu-wah..."

Aqua smiles and gives a soft chuckle, then she puts a hand on my head. "Close enough. Do you remember anything?"

I moan quietly as I thinks. I look down and shook my head slowly. To Aqua's disappointment, I have no memory of anything. "No memory huh?" Terra looks down at Ven. "Kind of reminds me of someone I know."

Aqua chuckles a little at Terra's joke. She turns her attention back to me. "I think you'll like it here." I don't say anything, or make a different expression of any kind. Instead, I crawl close to Aqua, wrap my arms around her, resting my head on her stomach.

"Mommy." I whispers. Aqua is pretty surprised at both the hug and me calling her 'mommy'.

"Wha..." Aqua looks down at me then at Terra and Ven, who are giving Aqua goofy smiles like they're enjoying this. Aqua looks back at me. "Wh...what are you doing?" She's not really upset or disappointed, just confused.

I look up at Aqua. "Ahquwah is mommy."

I sit on the kitchen table, alone while slowly eating the breakfast Aqua had made. Aqua, Terra and Ven are right now by the kitchen door, watching me in a blind spot. Aqua is still pretty surprised with what just happened half an hour ago, when I hugged her and called her my 'mommy'.

Eraqus returns from his travel. He finds his pupils hanging by the kitchen door, just looking inside like they're watching something but also hiding from said-something. Eraqus wonders what's up, then looks in the kitchen to see me. "So he's awake."

Terra, Ven and Aqua flinched in surprised hearing their masters voice. "Master Eraqus." They all said, standing in front of him straight. "How'd it go with Master Yen Sid?" Terra asks.

"Well, he doesn't know anything about the boy. But he said he'll search the stars to see if anything came up." Eraqus says. "What have you three found out about the boy?"

"Not much. He doesn't remember anything." Terra explains. "Kind of like Ven."

"We only found out his name: Patrick." Aqua says.

"Interesting. Anything else happened?" Eraqus says.

Terra smirks a little. "Well...after he woke up, he hugged Aqua and called her 'mommy'."

Ven and Terra, mostly Terra, laughed. Aqua seems offended. "Knock it off, boys. It's not funny!"

"Aqua's right. This is serious." Eraqus says, and the two boys now turns silent.

"Well, what should we do with him?" Ven asks.

Eraqus thinks for a moment. "Well...I'm not sure. Until we've decide anything, he'll have to stay with us." Eraqus turns to Aqua. "You'll watch over him, Aqua."

Aqua is surprised to hear this. "Wh-what? But...master, I-"

"I don't want to hear it, Aqua." Eraqus says. "This young boy is in a strange place surrounded by strange people. He's grown quite fond with you, so you'll be watching over him. Is that understood?"

Aqua is silent. She's not really upset, nor isn't fond with me, but is just disappointed. She's a highly trained keyblader and now she's being assigned to babysit. But she knows what Eraqus says its true.

Aqua stands straight then gives a small bow. "Yes, master."

Aqua walks right in the kitchen. "Don't worry, Aqua. You'll make a great mother." Terra teases.

That annoyed Aqua, but she knows it'll end up that way since I treat her like she's my mother. Aqua sits right next to me on the table. She takes a deep breath, speaking in a calmly tone.

"Hey." I stop eating to turn and look at Aqua. "How are you doing."

I smile a little. "I'm doing fine, mommy."

Aqua smiles a little. "Hey...I want to know something. Why do you think...I'm your mother?"

I say nothing for a moment, unsure of how to answer that. I soon find my answer. "I...I just woke up...and found you with me...asleep." It was then when Aqua realized what I meant. I'm suffering memory loss and Aqua was the first thing I see. It's the whole 'children attach on the first thing they see' scenario.

Aqua smiles and gives a single nod. "Then yes...I am your mother."

I smiled, and leap into my 'mothers' arms for a hug.


	2. Mother and Son

**A/N: One thing I want to keep clear. Patrick is NOT my real name. It's just a character name I used in my FFXIII stories. Didn't feel like changing it, even since I already having a lot going on at the moment. This chapter shows the relationship me and Aqua are having. I feel like doing this cause at the moment, I feel like I don't have a mother. I'm even getting to the point where I can't even trust that women.**

World: Multiple Worlds

* * *

Weeks have passed since my awakening in the Land of Departure. Aqua and I have bonded very well, very quickly even. I soon start to getting use to call everyone by their names. Expect for Ventus, keep calling him Fantus. Aqua, Ven and Terra have treated me well. Nice meals, comfortable clothing, spending enough time together.

Whenever Aqua has to train, I usually sit by and watch her become stronger. There were times when Aqua was worried with me watching cause there's a chance that some of her abilities can hurt a child.

At some point, I wanted to train how to fight. Aqua thought it was funny, but then decided to give me a chance. Aqua made me spar with Ven, both of us using fake weapons. Mine's just a wooden sword while he's is a wooden keyblade that once belonged to Terra.

After fifteen minutes of training, I've made no progress at all. Ven has kicked my butt every round we've trained. I lay on the ground in defeat, Ven is standing with victorious pride while Aqua just sits back watching us.

I just lay on the ground, not even bother to get up. With concern, not too much, Aqua got up. She walks until she's right beside me. She beans down hands on her knees. "You okay, honey?" Aqua asks.

I turn my head so I'm facing Aqua. "I'm sorry, mommy. I don't think I'm really cut out for fighting." I just sit up, resting the wooden weapon on my lap while looking down in shame.

Aqua laughs as she gets down on her knees. "Oh, Patrick. Fighting's never easy. You should have seen Ven whenever he and Terra spar. Ven can't lose one battle without getting knocked back."

"It's true." Ven says. "I always get my butt whooped."

Aqua puts a hand on my back. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Everytime you fall, you get back up and try again." I look up at Aqua, smile then nod. Aqua smiles and ruffles my head. then I get back on my feet and sparr with Ven.

* * *

It's been two months since I first arrived at my new home. My training is slowly progressing. I'm still losing every match, but it's not taking longer and I've actually been able to make a few blows. It's pathetic, but as a five year old, it's progression.

It's now the middle of the night. A dark, stormy night. Thunder rages and heavy rain hits the world. It's hard to get some sleep with the heavy pounding houses hitting the roof of the castle. Aqua woke up in the middle of the night. She isn't really scared, but it is hard for her to get some sleep with all the noise. You'd think she would have been use to it right now, but she isn't.

Knowing she can't return to sleep, Aqua gets out of bed. She walks down the hallways, making her way towards the kitchen. Just as Aqua was walking by my room, she looks in and suddenly stops. To her worry, the bed is empty. To add a dramatic effect, thunder stroke as soon as she sees the empty bed. Very funny, mother nature...

Aqua hopes that I haven't go AWOL or anything like that. In a hurry, she wonders around the castle looking for me. Every empty area she finds, she gets more and more worried. Aqua then checks the training grounds to find it empty as well. Just when he's about to give up, thunder strikes. To her surprise, behind that loud blast roar, she hears the sound of someone screaming.

Aqua looks around, following the direction of the sound After a while, she stops. Aqua is currently in the hallway of the ground floor. Thunder strikes, and the screaming happens again. This time it's closer. Aqua follows the direction of the sound. at her destination, there's something curled up in the corner, whimpering and softly sobbing. The girl can pretty much tell what it is.

"Patrick?" Aqua asks, as she approaches the figure slowly.

I give a slight gasp and look up. "Mo-mommy?"

Aqua gets on her knees right in front of me, noticing the fear and the tears in my heads. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

The body is trembling in fear. "I...I-I." Thunder strikes hard and loud, and I give a loud whimper. Aqua seems a bit startled, then becomes surprised when she suddenly feels a pair of arms wrapped around her.

Aqua looks down at me, my head resting on her stomach, sobbing. "You're scared of thunderstorms, aren't you?" I give quick nods. Aqua gently wraps her arms, holding me close. "It's okay. It's okay."

"I-I...I keep seeing things...hearing..." Thunder strikes and my sentence becomes interrupted by more whimpering.

Aqua looks down at me with concern. "Do you remember something?"

I don't say anything for a moment, trying to relax for I'm overwhelmed in fear. "Fires...Nothing but fires...people screaming...painful agony." I look up at Aqua with tears in my eyes. "Da-dark scary creatures (A/N: The Heartless)...hurting us." Aqua seems sadden. Thunder strikes again, I give a loud whimper and bury my head in Aqua's stomach and tighten my hold on her. "Mommy. I'm scared."

Aqua gives me a gentle stroke in my hair. "Shhh. It's okay."

Aqua carefully carries me, she walks down the hallway into a lounge room. Aqua sits down on a rocking chair, rocking gently back and forth, as she sings a song in a calm, quiet tone to calm me down. I constantly calm down and tremble in fear all over as thunder continues to strike outside. This goes on for a few minutes.

Soon enough, the storm starts to calm down outside. Aqua finish the song and I stop sobbing, but tears are still coming out of my eyes. Aqua looks down at me, a hand on my cheek. "That better?"

I give a small nod. "But...I'm still scared."

"It's okay, honey. I'm here." Aqua gives me a comforting hug. "I'll protect you. You're safe now."

After a moment of comforting, Aqua takes me to the kitchen for a glass of warm milk. As I drink, we go into her room. Aqua figures it's best if I lay with her. It was a bit uneasy, but I was able to get a peaceful rest.

* * *

Six months after my arrival at the Land of Departure. Aqua has been very protective with me since that one night when I had a scarce attack from the thunderstorms. However, I wonder if it's cause she knows something. A few days before that little event even happened, Eraqus took Aqua away for a private conversation, and then she had to leave for a while. When she returned home, she seemed surprised but also a bit sadden. Who knows what happened?

Me and Terra are just walking around town. We were low on supplies and Terra's making errands. I decided to tag along with him.

As we wondering down town, I've been noticing something strange. There a kids and children spending time with women who I assume are their mothers, most of them giving their mothers flowers and sometimes chocolates.

I grab onto Terras pants and give them a slight tug. "Uncle Terra." Terra looks down at me. "What's going on here?"

Terra seems confused. "What do you mean?" Terra asks.

"Everyone around here is acting strange." I ask.

Terra looks around, noticing what the other townsfolk are doing. Terra gives a soft chuckle then looks down at me. "Why, it's Mother's Day."

"Mother's Day?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah, Mother's Day. It's...well, it's a special day for children to be with their mothers. They usually give them presents, mostly flowers and maybe chocolates and give them the love they deserve." Terra says.

I seem a bit surprised to hear all this. "So...I should be doing the same for mommy?"

Terra gives a slight chuckle, he knows I mean Aqua. It's mostly funny to him cause he knows she's not really my mother. "You can if you want to. I won't stop yea." Terra says.

I nod then I turn. "All right! I'm gonna give mommy the best gift ever."

I stormed off, then Terra chases after me. "Hey, slow down there, tiger."

Minutes have passed, Aqua spent most of her time in her room, lost in thought as she looks at the picture of her parents. How she misses them, especially her mother. The very thought of it makes her sad.

Aqua didn't notice a knock on the door. Aqua slightly jumped, she puts the frame back on the nightstand then wipes the tears from her eyes and clears her throat. "Co-come in." The door opens, revealing me with something held behind my back. "Oh, Patrick. What do you want?"

I walk right in until I'm right in front of Aqua. I reveal a small bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate. Aqua seems surprised to see them. "Are...are these for me?" Aqua asks.

I nod. "I picked you some flowers and bought you some chocolates. Happy mothers day, mommy." Aqua is pretty speechless. She looks at the flowers. Tears are forming in her eyes. I take notice. "Mommy...why are you crying?" I start to look a little sad. "I...I didn't make you sad...did I?"

Aqua smiles as she shook her head. She sets the gifts down, pick me up to set me on her lap then hugs me. "Oh, Patrick. I'm not sad. I'm crying with tears of joy. No one's ever done anything this special for me."

I hug Aqua back. "I'm happy you like it, mommy."

* * *

Nine and a half months after I arrived in the Land of Departure. Today is King Mickey's Birthday and a festival is happening in Disney Town. Terra, Ventus and Aqua have heard about the festival. When I heard about it, I was overwhelmed with excitement and wanted to go. Aqua couldn't say no, so we all decided to go.

We are having the time of our life down here in Disney Town. Aqua's having the most fun with me around. Ven and Terra are out doing their own thing, who knows what?

Right now, we all gathered for the fireworks being launched from the castle itself. Me and Aqua are standing in the way back of the crowd. I was disappointed cause I'm too short to see the fireworks. I even tried jump to look over the people, but that's no good. I know: Pathetic.

I give up and look down in disappointment. Aqua chuckles a little, then she lifts me up, setting me on her shoulders. I was surprised at what she's doing. Aqua turns her head to look up at me, smiling. "That better?"

I look back ahead at the castle, looking at the exploding colors in the sky. "It's so pretty!" I say with an excited gasp in the beginning and smiling.

Aqua giggles. "I'll take that as a yes."

Terra and Ven are seeing me and Aqua from a distance. They are just watching what Aqua is doing for me. "I told her she would make a great mother." Terra says. Ven laughs at Terra's comment.

* * *

It's now been a whole year. I have been doing very well with everyone. Me and Aqua are right now at the Destiny Islands. We both just sit on that hanging tree on the small island on the water, watching the sunset.

"It's such a beautiful sunset, isn't it?" Aqua asks.

"It sure is, mommy." I say. We were quiet for a moment as we watch the sunset. "Mommy?" Aqua looks at me. I look up at her with a small mix of worry and sorrow. "We'll always be together...won't we?"

Aqua smiles a little, she wraps an arm around me pulling me close to her. "Oh, of course we will. We're family."

"I know. It's just...I still don't remember anything before that day when I first saw you." I say. "I don't know why I can't remember anything, and it scares me."

Aqua seems a bit sadden. I look down with a sad expression. Aqua gets an idea. "Hey, I know what'll cheer you up." I look up at Aqua, confused. Aqua gets off the the tree, standing in front of me. "You know, it's been a year since we've been together. You know what that means?" I slowly shook my head. "Well, since we don't know when your birthday is, that would mean it's today."

"Really?" I asked.

Aqua nods. "And I have a gift for you." Aqua summons her Keyblade. "Hold out your hand." I hop off the tree, standing in front of Aqua. Aqua grabs her weapon by the blade, holding the hilt of it in front of me. I slowly grab hold of the hilt.

"In your hand. Take this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of making its wielder you shall be. And you will one day find me, my son. No more borders around, or below or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

I can feel the power of the Keyblade seeping into me. The hilt I hold on glows, which surprises me. It glows for a couple of minutes, then fades. I let go of the blade and it vanishes.

"When I got I my own Keyblade, mommy?" I ask.

Aqua smiles. "You will one day. You'll just have to be patient." Aqua ruffles my hair and I giggle. Aqua sits back on the tree, and I sit on her lap, and we both watch the sunset.

* * *

A week later after my "Birthday", a lot has happened. It is time for the Mark of Mastery for Terra and Aqua. An old man known as Xehanort traveled here to exam Aqua and Terra. However, I find something off about him. As the test goes on, I cheer for Aqua.

In the end, Aqua passed the test, but Terra didn't. It's a shame really, it does have him upset. I was happy for Aqua that she passed the test, but I was soon upset when I heard that Aqua has to leave for a journey. Terra already left for his and Ven went AWOL. Now Aqua is about to depart until I stopped her.

I hug Aqua by her legs. "Mommy! Please don't go!" I begged.

Aqua looks down at me. "I'm sorry, but I have to find Ven and watch over Terra." Aqua says.

I look up at Aqua, with tears in my eyes. "But...I'll miss you."

Aqua frowns a little. "Aww." Aqua kneels down, putting her hands on my shoulders. "I'll miss you too. Nothing would make me happier to bring you along with me...But it's just too dangerous. You need to stay here where it's safe." That doesn't really make me feel better. Aqua reaches into her pocket. "I have something for you."

Aqua holds out a star shaped charm made of purple with violet at the tips stained glass with silver frames stitched together with a token of the Mark of Mastery in the center. The Wayfinder. Aqua made these for herself and Ven and Terra, and now she made me one.

Aqua rests the Wayfinder in my hands and closes my hands on them. "As long as you have this, we'll always stay connected."

I was silent for a moment, then I look up at Aqua. "You'll come back...will you?"

"Of course I will. When I do, we'll play together. Whatever you want." I give a small nod. "Remember this, Patrick: Always believe in the light. No matter what happens, no matter how dire the situation is, never forsaken it." Aqua moves her hands to my cheeks, pulling in to give me a kiss on the forehead, then she wraps her arms around him. "I love you."

"I love you too, mommy." I whispered.

After the hug, Aqua activated her armor, she summoned her keyblade which turns into a glider and she takes off to other worlds.

* * *

I have spend the past few days with Master Eraqus while waiting for Aqua to return. But she ever did. Instead, it was Ventus who returns. Only as soon as he does, Eraqus starts to attack him. I was scared, but then things got worse when Terra arrived and started attacking Eraqus. Eraqus dies and fades into the light.

Soon afterwards, Xehanort came in and attacked this world by turning it into darkness. I knew there was something wrong with him. But I didn't have the time to feel good about it. I was scared seeing this world being eaten by the darkness, until it's nothing more then a ruin.

Terra left and hours later, Aqua returns with Ventus asleep on her back. Aqua was shocked to see the world, and she was sad to see her masters Keyblade. She can tell that means he's now gone.

Aqua takes the keyblade and enters the castle. As soon as she does, I start running towards her. "Mommy!" Aqua was surprised to see me as I wrap my arms around her legs. "I was so scared!"

"Patrick. I'm glad you're okay." Aqua says.

A lot of events happened. Aqua followed her masters orders and transforms Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion. We left Ventus behind where he can be safe until he awakens.

We went to Radiant Garden for us to find Terra. Only when we did, we're too late. Terra has been possessed by the darkness. Eyes turned yellow and his hair all white. He's being controlled by Xehanort. Aqua battles Terra to free him from the darkness.

The battle didn't end very well. Just as the light within Terra was fighting back, Terra took the dark Keyblade and pierced it through his chest, then he falls back and sinks into a dark portal.

Aqua and I watch Terra sink into Darkness until it completely consumes him. "Terra..." Aqua looks down in sorrow. I hold on to Aqua by her leg, feeling sorry for her.

Just then, a sinister laughter goes on, echoing all around us. We become startled hear it, I become scared. "You think you can hide from me forever, LeiShen?!"

Aqua is worried and surprised to hear that. She knows what that means. "Mommy...What's happening?" I ask scared.

Aqua puts a hand on my back, holding me close as she holds her Keyblade out. "Just stay close to me."

"You cannot outrun the darkness! I will see to it that the last of the LeiShen's will DIE!"

Half a dozen of dark tentacles pops out of the dark portal. Aqua gasps in horror seeing them. The tentacles grabs her and starts pulling me hard. I scream digging my fingers into the ground as I'm being pulled away. "Mommy! HELP!"

I start to sink into the darkness, that's when Aqua runs in. "I'm coming, Patrick!"

The darkness swallows me and then Aqua dives right in shortly afterwards.

Aqua dives down on her Keyblade glider, trying to reach me. I reach out my hand for Aqua. When she gets close, we grab each others hands, then Aqua used her masters Keyblade to break the tentacles that grip me.

Aqua turns around and head towards our exit, which is the light. The exit starts to close. As we're close, the tentacles grabs on the glider and starts pulling us down. Aqua tries hard to resist, but it doesn't help with our situation.

'We're so close...but only one of us can make it.' Aqua thought. Aqua looks down at me, she knows what she has to do. The glider vanished, and we're floating in the darkness.

I'm confused at what's happening as Aqua gives mer her Keyblade, and it's magic shoot me out of the dark and into the light. I return to Radiant Garden, but I rush back to the dark portal which is closing.

I look down to see the dark tentacles gripping Aqua, pulling her back into the dark. "MOMMY!" I shout.

In slow motion, Aqua looks up at me, with a smile in her face. Her lips move, but no words came out. I couldn't hear it from the distance and from me turning deaf as I'm paralyzed in fear and sorrow, then the darkness closes, cutting Aqua out of my sight.


	3. After All These Years

**A/N: The worst part is now over, I wish I could say the same thing for my character self. We now move on to fifteen years later. I know. What happened in Birth By Sleep was ten years ago, but keep in mind this is an Alternative Universe. Everything here is different from the game, but also close to the original.**

World: Traverse Town

* * *

Ever since I have lost Aqua, I have been drowning in despair. Merlin found me and I grow up with him in Radiant Garden. I was able to make friends with the other people around town: Yuffie Kisaragi, Aerith Gainsborough, Cloud Strife, Tifa lockheart, Serah Farron (She'll be who she is in Final Fatnasy XIII, not the XIII-2) Noel Kreiss, Squall Leonheart, or "Leon" as he refers to be called, Cid Highwind and Rinoa Heartilly. I have also met Kairi when she was a little girl four years later.

Fifteen years have passed since Aqua was taken away, and I've also lost Terra and Ventus. When Radiant Garden fell to darkness and became Hollow Bastion, I was able to wield a Keyblade: The Black Angel. A long one-handed Keyblade. It's a black blade. White feathered black wings for the hilt guards, blue crown in between the blade and the hilt. A white feathered black wing on the tip and an angel with black wings on the keychain.

After Radiant Garden's fall, I trained with Yen Sid and King Mickey in the ways of being a Keyblader. I became a warrior with light and dark powers. The strength of the light with the powers of the darkness. A wielder of Twilight. I also have powerful Command Styles. Normally, Ven, Aqua and Terra have the first stage sytles of Fire, Ice and Lightning plus their own unique styles, but I have Their unique styles: Aqua's Spell Weaver, Terra's Critical Impact and Ven's Fever Pitch, plus my own Style: Star Surge.

I passed the Mark of Mastery at the age of sixteen, and afterwards, I begun my journey to find Aqua. Overtime, I start to lose faith and started to believe she's really dead. Once I do, I now try to find a way to bring her to life. I hardly bother to help Mickey and his friends with the true threats, like the heartless or Organization XIII. All though there was a time when I helped Sora conquer Hollow Bastion. It was a shame he lost his Keyblade to Riku, and then his friends, but everything went well in the end.

Hollow Bastion returned into Radiant Garden, but my journey is far from over.

* * *

It's Christmas night in Traverse Town. A light snow, a large tree in the center of the Fountain Plaza. Everyone is gathering around at the christmas tree while I'm just sitting on a bench from distance, away from everyone.

My outfit is a black trench-coat, that goes down to my upper legs, with dark purple lining going down the sleeves. Dark purple t-shirt underneath the trench coat, black pants, black boots, black fingerless gloves. My Wayfinder wrapped around my neck, fashioned as a necklace.

I am now twenty-one years old. This marks the fifteen year anniversary since I've lost my family. There are times when I still wonder who I really am. I know Aqua isn't my real mother, though she still does feel like one to me since she took care of me in my time of need. I'm still lost cause I have no memory of my life in the first five years. My real home world and my real family. But I don't let that bother me. I still focus on my objective: Bring Aqua back.

Tonight on Christmas, everyone from the major worlds: Disney Castle, Radiant Garden, Sora, Riku and Kairi from Destiny Islands, have come to Traverse Town to celebrate Christmas together.

Serah, Shiki, Kairi and Mickey are right now passing out the presents to everyone, as part of the gift exchange. Everyone is so excited about the gifts. I however am not. I lack the Christmas spirit cause of me drowning in despair.

Rhyme stands behind the bench I sit on, facing her back against me. "What did you find out?" I asked.

"I don't see why you're into these rumors." Rhyme says.

"Tell me." Is all I say for an answer.

Rhyme looks up at the sky. "Well...there's this one rumor. I'm not even sure if it really is true. They say that a powerful Heartless appears under the Savior Tree in the woods, later tonight on Christmas." I say nothing else, but I stand up. Rhyme turns to look at me, she knows what I'm thinking. "Wait...you're not going after it are you?"

"Maybe I am." I say, walking off.

Rhyme and I don't say anything to each other. I make my way through Traverse Town until I take the exit in First Distract.

There are rumors of a monstrous Heartless that appears every night on Christmas. I believe it was called the "Father Scrooge". Most people believed that it's Santa Claus as a Heartless, but I don't believe it, even since Sora told me that he meet Santa in Christmas Town of the world: Halloween Town. Some people say that the monster drops a rare item that'll revive a dead person. Nobody's actually ever seen this item ever drop. Father Scrooge hasn't been killed over thirty years.

If I can get this item, I will use it to bring Aqua's soul back, and then maybe I'll be able to hear those last words she said before the darkness swallowed her. Her final words have been hunting me. What did she say? Something that'll save her? Someone from my forgotten past? A final favor? A curse? I don't care what it is. I have to know...

I'm already in the middle of the Forest of Wandering. Since it's cold out here, I have my trench coat zipped up and I'm wearing a black fedora and a fur cape wrapped around my body. The front is usually open whenever I make action with my arms, like fighting.

"Hey!" I stop to look at the person who called out. It's Sora with his friends Donald and Goofy. I have met Sora shortly after he lost his world two years ago. When I first met him, there's something very familiar about him. I feel like I've met him before...somewhere...somehow. I never had the time to wonder how or why.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Sora asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." I say.

"Well, we're just on our way to Traverse Town." Goofy says with a 'hi-yuk'

"Well, then get moving." I look ahead, continuing down my path. "I have some business to take care of."

Sora watches me moving on, but I shortly stop after hearing him talk. "Wait...at Savior's Tree...you're not going after Father Scrooge are you?" I say nothing, but Sora can tell that means that I mean. "You're going to solo it? Dude, that thing will kill you."

"I don't care." I say. "I'll do anything to bring her back."

"Her? ...You mean your friend." Sora says. "I get it that you miss your friend...but there's nothing you can do about it. She's gone for go-"

"Shut up!" I say, clinching my fists. I refuse to accept it.

Donald seems to be on his attitude. "Now listen you!" Just then, Nobodies, the Dusks, appears out of nowhere, surrounding us. Sora, Donald and Goofy becomes startled. Sora summons his Keyblade and Donald and Goofy take out their weapons. "Nobodies? Where did they come from?" Donald asks.

"Let's just take them on." Sora turns to me. "Patrick..." Sora is surprised to see me gone. "Patrick? ..."

Goofy takes notice. "He's gone."

While Sora, Donald and Goofy fight the Nobodies, I arrive at Savior's Tree. The tree is about thirty feet high, filled with Christmas lights and ornaments. You could say it's the World's biggest Christmas Tree. It's certainly the brightest as it glows in holy light.

I hear jingle bells happening. I look up to see large red sleigh with no reindeer. A large red creature jumps out of the sleigh and lands right by the tree. The creature is a large ugly zombie version of Santa Claus with crazy eyes, a large fat ugly nose, sharp crooked teeth, long finger nails that looks like that haven't been trimmed in thirty years, the Heartless symbol on the buckle of its belt and a large sack hanging over the back of his shoulder.

Father Scrooge.

I fists shakes with rage. "Shut up..." Father Scrooge roars. I summon my Keyblade, charging at the monster as I shout.

I make the first strike on Father Scoorge, then second and third. Father Scoorge dodges my third strike. He takes out a large present from it's sack. Father Scrooge throws it at me. I dodge roll out of the way and the present explodes from impact.

I cast a Fire spell at Father Scrooge, then I charge and attack it. Father Scrooge blocks my finishing combo attack with a wreath. The block caused me to stagger, then Father Scrooge strikes me with his sack, knocking me back. I crash in the snow and slight back a few feet.

I slowly get back on my feet, watching the ugly creature laughing at me. I growl, charging at Father Scrooge with high speed. "SHUT UP!" Then I leap towards it and deliver a powerful slash.

* * *

Sora, Donald and Goofy have just defeated the Nobodies. They all sit down, panting in exhaustion. Taking the moment to recover their strength. As they do, Sora looks up. He sees me coming at them from a distance.

Sora stands up. "Patrick." As I get closer, he noticed the sorrow disappointment on my face. "Wh...what happened?"

I say nothing. Instant, I toss an item at Sora. He catches it clumsy at first, then gets a hold of it. "That's the revival item."

Sora looks at it surprised. "So it is real..." Sora looks at the instructions about the item. "Let's see here...'Bring a dead person back to life...'" What was written next surprised Sora even more. "'Within fifteen seconds?'"

"Do me a favor, Sora..." Sora looks up at me. "and use it on the next person who dies before your eyes."

There was a moment of silence, then I walk away without saying a word. As I walk, Sora rushes up to me, grips me back the cape, causing me to stop. "Patrick!" I say nothing, I turn my head over my shoulder, barely looking at Sora. "You're going to be okay...come on, man. You've got to live. Aqua would want you too!"

That doesn't make me feel any better. I look forward, pull my cape out of Soras grip. "See you..." Then continue moving on, leaving Sora and his friends behind.

For the rest of the night, I just returned to my temporary home in Traverse Town. I remove the cape and hat and sit on a chair in front of a mirror, arms crossed laying on the desk, my head rested on the arms.

I'm overwhelmed in despair and doubt. That revival item was my last chance of bringing Aqua back, and now it's gone. I don't know what else to do. I roll my eyes up on the mirror, and sit up as something caught my attention.

In the mirror, there's a spotlight on the table, revealing a present. I turn to see the present there, then I got up and slowly walk to it. A present? Who would give me a present?

The present is a little old and partly torn. Almost like it's been around for years. There's a small note on the present and I read it:

'I found this present under the tree with your name on it. It seemed pretty old, but there was no other gift for you. I'm sorry, but it's the thought that counts you know. Merry Christmas. Heart Serah.'

I set the note aside, just looking at the present. I did notice that on the present, it says: 'Do not open until Christmas' then I slowly unwrap it. I open the box to find a Rhombus Crystal. I'm aware of these things, it was used to make a recorded message.

I push the small button on the top tip of the message. It glows and floats.

"You have one message: October 15th, 1999"

To my surprise, that's the night before Aqua had to leave on her journey. That's when the message begins.

"Merry Christmas, Patrick!"

I'm even more surprised, that's Aqua's voice. "Aqua." I whispered breathlessly.

"If you're listening to this, then that means I'm gone. I'm sure you are now sad that I'm no longer around, so that's why I have decided to record you this message. There's something I've been meaning to tell you. You may not know this, but I'm not really your mother. I actually found you hurt in the woods. I took you in, cared and nurtured you. When you woken, you hugged me and called me your mother. I was surprised, but at the same time, I was happy. You actually felt like a son to me and I'm glad to have you in my live.

Anyways, Patrick, I have a favor to ask you. That day when I give you the power of the Keyblade, there's a reason why I did. I have discovered something about you, who you really are."

Hearing that last part put me to a story. Aqua knew something about my forgotten past, probably the first five years I can't remember anything.

"You are destined to wield such great power. The power to protect others. Where you are from and who your family are, I don't really know. The favor I ask you to do is find out how you ended up in that river in the first place. How we ended up together. That is what I wish. I'm glad we got to meet, Patrick. I couldn't have anyone better...to have for a son. Also, I want you to know, just because I'm gone doesn't mean I'm no longer with you. No matter what happens, our connection is unbreakable. That Wayfinder I've made you is the living proof of it.

Oh, one other thing. If you ever become a Keyblade wielder, I want you to become a master and protect Terra and Ven for me. I want you to become my living legacy. Stay strong and protect the light. Oh, there's plenty of time left in this message. So I guess I'll sing for you."

Aqua begins singing the song she use to sing to me, whenever I was scared or sad.

[ENGLISH "Yume Sekai" Sword Art Online (AmaLee) by LeeandLie in Youtube]

I wonder if this light inside my heart has been right here all along  
And I've never noticed it at all  
'Cause every time I stumble down  
Or have to take the long way around  
It shines on me forever more

Listening to Aqua sing brings back memories of our time together. It starts that one time when she comforted me during that thunderstorm, when she first sang that song to me.

The distant singing of the bells  
If you listen close it tells  
A lonely story

Once more, I'll push my fears away  
All that I endure today will make me stronger

I now think back to the time Aqua helped me fight, whenever I was sparring with her or Ventus. I always lose, but Aqua kept my spirits up to never give up. Whenever I fall down, I get back up and try again.

The mere repeating of reality alone  
Aligns the stars and all the wishes they take on  
At last I've found something to chase with all my might  
I cannot fight or go against these feelings

I now think about that one day when we all went for a picnic in the town park. Me, Aqua, Ventus and Terra. We all had lunch, I use to play with Ventus or Aqua. Aqua's favorite moment was when I fell asleep on her lap. Watching Terra and Ven having fun while an adorable child is sleep beside her.

No matter if one day I wake and blink away this world around me  
And I'm lost in thoughts of what could be  
I know that I will find my way  
'Cause now I have this light within me  
It shines on me forever more

At night when we were walking down to town. We use to stop by a nearby bench and watch the stars in the nighttime sky. It was beautiful night it was.

Every night following that dream  
Where I threw away that old and silly ribbon  
Lights have adorned the city streets  
And I've been without one fret or worry within

One day when we went to the beach at Destiny Islands. I use to have a lot of fun with Aqua there. Playing in the water, making sand castles. I once found a unique shell and gave it to Aqua. She loved it and we both used it to hear the ocean, mostly outside of Destiny Islands since we can literally hear the ocean.

I need a sanctuary that will keep me safe  
As if protected like an angel in heaven  
If I cannot have wings I'd like someone to trust  
I know it must be wonderful like magic

Then came the night of the fireworks, when Aqua kindly let me sit on her shoulders to allow me to watch the fireworks. That night I can never forget, seeing all kinds of colors filling up the sky.

If I could choose I'd stay like this forever while this world around me  
Fills with colors I have never seen  
I know I wouldn't hesitate  
'Cause now the colors of each moment  
Will change and change forever more

Now I think about that one day on Destiny Island, when we watched the sunset. It was my 'Birthday' (**A/N: October 9th really is my Birthday but my character doesn't realize it due to memory loss**) That night was special to me cause that was when Aqua gave me the power to wield a Keyblade.

Answers we cannot find  
No matter if they're not kind  
We'll find it even blind  
That is true in my mind

I'm believing till the end  
That we are similar, my friend  
One day I'll shine like this Dream World

I just sit on my desk, lost in thought. As Aqua sings, I slowly start to sob. Tears roll out of my eyes and they slowly drip onto the disk. Hearing Aqua sing use to cheer me up, but right now, it just makes me sad. Aqua is now gone and hearing her voice after fifteen long years just...makes it seem far away.

If you just take a moment to blink all those tears away from your eyes  
And you manage to conceal your cries  
You'll never fear again because  
The future you yearned for in heartache  
Will shine on you forevermore

As I drown in sorrow, I now think of that one day when Aqua had to leave. She handed me my Wayfinder, hugged me, made a promise that she'll come back and we'll spend time together.

Without a limit  
No matter if one day I wake and blink away this world around me  
And I'm lost in thoughts of what could be  
I know that I will find my way  
'Cause now I have this light within me  
It shines on me forevermore  
And shines and shines forevermore  
For you and me, eternally

Aqua's singing comes to an end. I try to pull myself together and listen to what she has to say next.

"Thank you, Patrick. I'm glad I got to meet you. Stay strong and take care."

I think back to that moment when Aqua was drowning in the darkness. Her final words. They speak in the message as I watch Aqua say them in my thought.

"I love you. Good bye."

The message ends. The glow from the record fades and then it lays dead on the desk.


	4. The Dark Truth

**A/N: The last chapter was pretty sad, wasn't it? Wouldn't you feel that way after hearing someone close to you after fifteen long years? That chapter was similar to an episode of "Sword Art Online". Now we move on to see a dark secret to be revealed.**

World: Keyblade graveyard

* * *

Last night was a rough night for me. I couldn't get any sleep as I thought about Aqua's request. Look after Terra and Ventus. How can that be?

Ventus fell into some kind of eternal slumber. His heart is asleep and it's out there...somewhere. It's been fifteen years since he's been asleep, there's no way he'll ever awake.

Terra fell into quite a mixture fate. First he got possessed by Xehanort then feel into darkness before Aqua did. Then years later, he returned and attacked Radiant Garden, turning the world into Hollow Bastion. This power against the world consumed him and made him into a Heartless named Ansem, and then a Nobody named Xemnas. When Sora and his friends defeated Terra in both ways, Terra got put back together a few months back in Ansem's Study in Radiant Garden, but still's the dark Xehanort.

He's now on the lose somewhere, only I don't know where. But I don't have time to bother.

There's no way I can fulfill Aqua's wishes to keep her friends safe.

I ride on my Hoverbike to go to the one world I need to visit: The Keyblade Graveyard. I arrive at the Seat of War area. I walk up to the edge of the cliff, looking at the view of this barren wasteland.

This is the world where my friends have fallen. Even though Aqua fell in Radiant Garden, she's still apart of the fallen in this world.

I hold my hand out, summoned a Keyblade, looking at it. "I will not fall..." Is all I say, then the Keyblade vanishes, and I move on towards the Twister Trench.

The Twister Trench is crawling with Unversed: Flood, Sonic Blaster, Bruiser and Buckle Bruiser. I summon my Keyblade and take on the Unversed. I do a couple of strikes, then attack with Wishing Edge, striking Unversed in a jumping attacking with my Keyblade. Half of the Floods and a Brusier falls. The other Unversed attacks me. When I get the chance to strike back, I use an Aero spell, causing a gust of wind to suck in few enemies and blow them off.

Power surges through me and I enter Star Surge Command. My body and Keyblade becomes coated in twilight energy. I strike multiple and swift at the Unversed. Most of the Unversed barely had a change to strike back at me. A Buckle Brusier was able to strike me by throwing it's disk hands.

I use Cure to restore my health, then I cast Dusk, casting a dark mist ball, at the Buckle Bruiser, ending it. There are now five Unversed standing. I reach to my full power in Star Surge, then I unleash it. I strike rapidly and hard with light and dark twilight energy. Then I jump and impale my Keyblade on the ground, unleashing a ring nova of twilight energy, finishing off the Unversed around me.

With the Unversed defeated, my Keyblade vanishes. "What are the Unversed doing here?" I ask.

I don't bother waiting around for an answer. I move on ahead. I face and defeat the Unversed on the other side of the Twister Trench. The second group of these creatures weren't as tough as the previous one. How sad.

After defating the Unversed, I arrive at the Fissure. There isn't really much in this area, but I do take the tunnel path, at the end, I arrive at Crossroads of Destiny. This is the very spot where Ventus, Aqua and Terra made their encounterment with Xehanort, where their Destinies changed.

I walk on the single path passing by the field of Keyblades, until I arrive in the middle of the crossroads. I look down, putting my fingers on the Wayfinder.

"Aqua...I just wish I could have saved you and your friends...Why did I have to be so helpless back then?" I asked.

I just waited for a moment, like I was waiting for some kind of answer. But after a moment, I continue on. As I moved to the middle path ahead, a faded dark mist appears, then it vanishes. Someone is following me.

I arrive in Wasteful Bridge, which is a cliffy bridge path over a large pit. I run down the path, as I do, Unversed appeared. Red Hot Chili, Monotrucker, Archraven. I take out the flying Unversed first. Striking at them, casting a Fire spell, on the Archraven's of course.

The Red Hot Chili's shoot firebolts at me. I got hit by two of them, but dodge rolled the last one. I cast Zero Gravity, unleashing dark pulse of energy causing the Unversed caught in it to float helplessly in the air. I then entered Spell Weaver Command and start attacking the Unversed weaving my Keyblade at them with arcane magic. Half of the Unversed died and the Zero Gravity effect on the rest wore off.

Monotrucker's get back on their feet and attacked me. I guard most of the attacks, then cast Dusk as them. I reach to my full power and unleash Spell Weaver, raising my Keyblade in the air and spinning around in a wave of arcane energy.

The Unversed become defeated and I move on ahead. I come to a U turn point at the path and make the turn, entering the upward trench ahead.

I arrive in the Badlands. I start talking ahead on the large wide open field. By the cliff up ahead, there's a shrine. I make my way towards it. As I do, an eerie voice echoes, pretty faint.

"LeiShen. LeiShen. LeiShen."

I stop in the middle of the Badlands, looking around wondering where that come from. "Lei...Shen?" I asked. Only once have I ever heard that word, before I got pulled into the darkness.

"Last one. Last one. Last one."

'Last one'...That's right. "The last one." I say, looking down a bit confused. That's when I remember the one sentence I heard back in Radiant Garden, after Aqua's battle with Terra-Xehanort. "I will see to it that the last of the LeiShen's...will die."

"You cannot escape. Escape. Escape." The voice say.

I hold my head up, looking around. "Who's there?" I ask, voice loud. There was no answer, only the sounds of the winds blowing. I stand in wait for a minute, then I just move on ahead, cautious from behind at first, then dropped it.

I arrive at the shrine of ahead. I stand in front of the partly rusted Keyblade that Aqua once wielded: Stormfall. The blade is impaled on the ground, surrounded by lit candles. The candle are special, they never melt or get blown. Like magic. A picture frame lies against in front of the Keyblade. A picture of my younger-self and Aqua.

I look down at the Keyblade. "You want me to live on...do you?" I asked. "Become your living legacy." I fall silent for a moment. "What am I destined for? Who am I to protect? I no longer have you...And Ventus and Terra are long gone as well." I drop on my knees. "Why can't I remember anything? What was my world!? Who are my family!?" I slam my fists on the ground in frustration.

I'm having a very rough time. I need Aqua for answers, but now she's gone. "I just...want you to come back, Aqua..."

"How interesting for you to hold on to your feelings after all these years." I become on alert hearing that. That voice is coming right behind me.

I quickly get on my feet, turn around on alert. There's a boy who looks like Sora, but with dark hair and in Riku's heartless uniform, only it's black and red with an Unversed symbol on it. Vanitas.

"Who are you? ...Were you following me?" I asked.

Vanitas chuckles. "I am Vantias, Unversed commander of the Shadowmoon."

"The...Shadowmoon?" I asked confused.

"That's nothing you need to know. A bigger question would be is why are you talking to such a pathetic weapon?" Vanitas asks.

"That's nothing you need to know!" I shot back at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here for you." Vanitas says. "I heard you were looking for a friend."

"Not anymore." I look down in sorrow. "She's...gone."

Vanitas chuckles. "Man, you're just as dumb as Ventus aren't you?" I look at Vanitas, offended. "If that's what you really think, then I think." Vanitas raises a hand next to his head, snapping his fingers. "I should shed some light."

A dark portal appears right in between us. I look down at it, curious but cautious compared to what happened the last time the dark portal. At first, there's nothing but darkness, then a vision appears in that portal.

It's Aqua in the Realm of Darkness. She still looks the same and is still wearing the same outfit, only her stockings are torn, the left one cut off so it only goes up to her lower leg, and the right one have large holes. Her bell-sleeves, which is only wearing one on her right arm while the other one is gone are torn as well, the striped cloths that were tied around her waist are gone as well, but there is a small line piece of the cloth hanging from her left waist. On her face are some dirty and small cuts on her exposed arms and legs.

Aqua's breathing heavily, in her fighting position with her masters Keyblade at hand. She is now surrounded by the giant Heartless, Darkside's. Aqua is near at her last stand, but even at her limits, she's still standing strong and proud.

I gasp breathlessly, eyes wide open seeing this. "You're alive." I whispered.

A Darkside raised its arm in the air. Aqua dodges out of the way before it's arm smashes her. Another darkside makes its strike on her, but Aqua managed to jump back just as soon as she was done dodge rolling.

As Aqua jumps back, she casts a Mega Flare, her Keyblade engulfed in flames and unleashes a massive fire bomb at one of the Darksides, destroying it.

Aqua lands on the ground. As soon as she does, a Darkside slam its fist at her, knocking her back. Aqua crashes and rolls back, then stops.

"NO!" I shout as I try to jump in, only the dark portal disappears as soon as my hands and knees are on it. I gasp and look at the ground in horror. Seeing the dark portal vanished made me feel like I'm losing Aqua all over again.

"I see, so you really do care for her. Just enough to attempt to jump into the darkness to save her." Vanitas says.

I look down, my hands and arms shake with rage, then I look up at Vantias. "What...have you done to her!?" I ask.

"I have done anything. This is my lord's doing. He's just playing with his little toy until it breaks." Vanitas says.

Hearing that made my heart ache. They're treating Aqua like a toy and they're throwing Heartless at her until she dies from exhaustion. I look down, trying to fight the fear and sorrow, then it all turns into anger.

"You...you..." My arms shake, then the Keyblade appears in my hand. I get on my feet and charge at Vanitas. "YOU BASTARD!" I make the strike, but as soon as I do, Vanitas vanishes. I stagger a little from the miss but quickly regain it. Vanitas appears a few feet in front of me with that evil smile on his face. I take my fighting position. "I'm gonna rip you to pieces!" I say angrily.

Vanitas summons his Keyblade, making his fighting position. "That's right. Give in to your anger."

Vanitas summoned a wind current of Keyblades. The current soars close to him and jumps on it, riding the current like a surf board. As he rides, she shoots dark fires at me. I run around, avoiding the fires until he's done.

After a minute, Vanitas jumps down and charges towards me. I make a few strikes on him, then cast Ruin at him. Shooting a black orb coated in light magic at him. Vanitas jumps in the air, spins as he unleashes a wave of shadow lightning at me.

I strike at Vanitas, then entered Critical Impact. I start striking at Vanitas with hard brutal strikes, that even caused Vanitas to stagger. Vanitas strikes at me twice, then for his third strike, he strikes upward and unleashed a dark cut beam at me. I cast Cure to heal my health then do Wishing Edge.

Halfway through the battle, me and Vanitas charges at each other and strike with her Keyblades clashing. We're now face to face. Vanitas chuckles. "You're more skilled then I expected. And I thought this we going to be a boring fight."

"Shut up!" I say, making a strike that retreats Vanitas's Keyblade. I strike at Vanitas twice, both of them dodge, then Vanitas parries my third one. I'm about to make another strike, but Vanitas kicks me in the stomach, staggering me, then strikes me with his Keyblade, knocking me back.

I lay on the ground, out of strength. "You are a fool. I'm an Unversed. I feed on negativity. Your anger gives me strength." Vanitas casts a dark spell, it coats me and lifts me off the ground. I float in the air as the darkness crushes me. "You cannot escape from him. My lord will destroy you."

I grunt and struggle as I try to fight the pain Vanitas is giving me. Vanitas chuckles in amusement. Just then a large beam of light implants in between us. Vanitas was surprised and a flash of light blasts him back.

The darkness escapes from me and I collapse on the ground. I lay to recover my strength. "Are you okay?"

I look up to see Mickey in front of me. I give a single nod. "Yeah."

I get back on my feet, looking at Vanitas. Vanitas gets on his feet, looking at me and Mickey, then mostly Mickey. "You again?" Vanitas summons his Keyblade. "You've interfered in my plans for the last time, rodent!"

Mickey summons his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key D. We both take our positions to fight. I charge at Vantias, making the brutal strikes while Mickey casts Pearl, shooting an orb of light at Vantias.

Vanitas strikes at me twice then a third time with a dark cut beam. Mickey strikes at Vanitas, I strike at Vanitas, then unleash my power of Critical Impact. Jump and smash my Keyblade hard on Vanitas. Vanitas jumps and waves shadow lightning at us.

I cast Dusk at Vanitas and strikes at him. Mickey strikes as well, then we both worked together and do Shimmering Light. Stand back to back, spinning around unleashing pulses of light.

Vanitas was defeated. He falls on one knee and foot, hanging on to his Keyblade for support. Me and Mickey just stand beside, watching and waiting for Vanitas make his next move. Vanitas looks at us and grunts.

"This isn't over." Vanitas gets on his feet. A dark portal appears. Me and Mickey are on alert. Vanitas slowly backs away into the portal. "Beware my friends...Rasputin is always watching."

Vanitas vanishes in the portal and the portal vanishes as well. Me and Mickey lets our guard down. I turn to Mickey. "Thanks for the save. I owe you one."

Mickey looks up at me with a smile. "Don't worry about it. That's what pals are for."

I give a single nod. "Would you mind telling me how you knew I was here?"

"Well, I spotted you in the World and you were heading to this place. So I decided to follow along." Mickey says. "I mean, I know this place very well and I thought you could use the help."

At first, I feel awkward cause I was being followed, then what Mickey said kind of made sense. "You got me there."

We stand in silence for a moment, then I start walking towards the shrine. Mickey just stands back watching me. I walk up the small cliff until I'm standing in front of the Stormfall.

"All these years, I thought you were dead." I say to the Keyblade. "But I see you're still trapped in that darkness. Fighting. Struggling." I place my fingers on the Wayfinder and close my eyes. After a few seconds, I look back at the Keyblade. "I swear, if it's the last thing I'll ever do. I will find you, and I'll bring you home...See you later." I slowly turn until my back is facing the old Keyblade. "Mother."

I slowly walk away from the Keyblade, not even looking back.

In the Realm of Darkness, Aqua is fighting off a Defender Heartless. The Defender strikes Aqua with its shield, but Aqua jumps over it, avoiding the attack. She lands behind it and does a few swift strikes at it.

On the top, Vanitas and three other men are watching Aqua down below. One man in a black robe with purple feathery hair who commands the Heartless. Izu. A female with long pink hair with a red strip in front who commands the Nobodies. Zaela.

And lastly, a man in a brown robe with a sash. Bald on the top while still having black hair on the sides and back of his head and a very long beard and crooked teeth. On the center of his robe is a purple moon with a Y in the middle made out of the symbols of the Unversed, Nobodies and Heartless. Nobody symbol on the left top line, Heartless symbol on the right top line and an Unversed symbol on the bottom line.

Rasputin.

"She fights bravely." Zaela says.

"She is young. overconfident. Foolish." Izu says.

The Defender turns, but Aqua casts Zero Gravija (Level 5 Zero Gravity), sending the Defender up in the air, then she casts a Firaga spell at it, destroying it. Now she's out of combat. She takes a moment to catch her breath, then collapses on her knees.

"Don't take any chances with her, lord Rasputin." Vanitas says. "We should destroy her quickly."

Rasputin strokes his beard. "For fifteen years, she's fought and fought and fought. Not once did she break down in exhaustion. Perhaps I have been underestimated her."

Rasputin raises a hand and snaps his fingers. Countless Darkballs and Angel Stars come out of nowhere. Aqua looks all around her and grunts in disappointment. "Can't I get five minutes without fighting?" She roughly gets back on her feet and continues fighting the heartless.


	5. A Dark Desire

**A/N: Now we all know that Aqua is alive. Who is Rasputin you might wonder. He seems like a dark and evil villain, wouldn't you say? We now move on to another world, where a dark desire awaits.**

World: Olympus Coliseum

* * *

I arrive at Olympus Coliseum, in the Canyon Gorge. I have just found out that Aqua is still alive, but she needs my help to save her. So now I have begun my journey to find her and to bring her home.

As I walk in the dark rocky area, I stop and take a look around. "Now...where am I?" I wonder.

"Help!" The call for help is fainted, but I heard it enough to be on alert. I stat running, making my way down the canyon to find the people in trouble.

The path is long, I even ran into some Heartless on the way. I had to attack them fast, cause someone's in trouble. I defeated all the Heartless in two minutes, then continue down my path.

I arrive at the Gorge. So far, there's nothing but rocks everywhere. "Hey! Anyone here!?" I shout.

"Help! Over here!" I turn to the direction where there's a large boulder about twenty stores tall. I'm guessing there's been an avalanche. I rush up in front of the boulder.

I look down to see a small crack of opening. Inside are two little boys. "Are you boys all right?"

"We're fine, mister." One boy says. "Go get help."

"No time. I need to get you out now." I stand up.

"No! It's okay. Just go get Hercules." The second boy says.

Outside, I remain serious, but inside, I'm surprised to hear the name 'Hercules' I'll worry about that later. "Don't worry, I'll get you boys out."

I summon my Keyblade, then take out a special potion. I drink the potion and it causes me to instantly enter Critical Impact. I take my position, gather all of my strength. With a shout, I strike hard on the large boulder, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

The pieces fly in the air, but then start falling. I stand in the middle of that rock slide. When the boulders fall close, I cast Zero Gravity, causing the rocks to flow in the air. The two boys seems impressed. "Whoa."

I look down at the boys. "Get out. Now."

The two boys climb right out of the cavern. the three of us moves out of the way, just in time cause the Zero Gravity wore off and the boulders fell.

"Okay, you boys were lucky I was here." I say. "You two be careful, all right?"

"We sure will, mister." The first boy says, and then the two of them take off.

I stay behind to watch the boys leave, but when they're out of sight, the two boys transforms into Pain and Panic. Pain and Panic hides behind a rock, in worry, looking at me.

"Oh man! Oh man! Hades is going to kill us!" Panic says. "It was suppose to be Hercules who falls for the trap.

"Let's just hope he doesn't find out!" Pain says.

"Finds out what?" Pain and Panic screams in fear, they turn to see their lord, Hades. "Pain? Panic? What's going on?"

Panic chuckles nervously. "Uh, yeah...you see.. everything we going according to plan...until...Pain?"

Panic pushes Pain in front of him. "Well...some man rescued us instead of Hercules."

Hades looks mad. "You WHAT!?" Hades bursts into red flames.

"It's not our fault! We-we told him to go get Hercules, but he insists on rescuing us!" Pain says.

Hades pants angrily and growls. "Oh! I swear! I'm gonna-"

Hades becomes interrupted by the sound of a monstrous roar. I become on alert and look inside the cavern. Low growling happens and then I can see bloodshot eyes in the darkness. A large claw pops out of the ground and the monster comes out.

I slowly back away as I see a large Hydra coming out of the cavern. The Hydra is big and it's neck is like thirty feet long, with razor teeth and a lizard tongue.

The hydra looks down at me and roars. "Oh great. Just what I need." I say. I summon my Keyblade and battle the Hydra. The Hydra snaps its teeth in front of me. I dodged at the neck of time. Man, this thing moves its head damn fast.

The Hydra bites at me three times, I dodge them all. At the fourth one, I strike at the Hydras face, clashing my weapon with it's teeth. I slightly slide back, even with my feet planted on the ground. This thing is strong too. I shift my Keyblade to repel the Hydra. The hydra hisses and strikes, I strike to, causing the Hydras head to be knocked back.

I position my Keyblade over my shoulder, shout and throw it. Strike Raid. My Keyblade cuts right through the Hydras neck. The Hydra's body falls out cold, and the head falls on the ground as well. My Keyblade returns to me and I catch it.

I take a moment to look at the dead body then turn and move on. When I'm a couple of feet away, I hear rumbling noise. I stop. It know it's not an earthquake or a rock-alanche. But I fear what it really could be.

I turn around, noticing the body is moving. It stands back up and three heads pop out of the Hydra. I was shocked. "Whoa!" All three heads looks down and roars at me. I position myself to strike. "Okay! Chopping heads: BAD!"

I start running at the Hydra. The left head dives towards me, its razor teeth open. I jump, avoiding the attack. The head hits the ground, I land on the head and start running up the neck. The other two heads pay close attention to me. I run my way up the neck towards the body.

The right head rushes towards me. I cast a Dusk at that head, interrupting its attack. The middle head rushes towards me, I strike it with my Keyblade, parrying it's bite attack. The left head removes itself from the ground and rushes towards me.

I jump off the neck and land on the body. I turn to see the three heads are coming towards me. I jump high, causing the three heads to sink their razor teeth into the body. Oh, that's gotta hurt.

The three heads eyes shot wide open and they all roar. I jump high in the air, waving my Keyblade at hand. I begin diving down with my Keyblade pointed down. Aerial Dive. I impale the weapon into the body. The Hydra screeches in agony, then dies and it's body collapses.

I stand back up, removing my Keyblade from the corpse. "Well, that should do it."

I jump off the body and make my way out of the gorge. From above, Hades watched the whole thing, fingers on his chin thinking. Pain and Panic are nervous, afraid Hades is gonna get mad.

"Hmm. Brave. Strong and a fast learner. Interesting." Hades says. "Pain. Panic." Pain and Panic flinches hearing their names. "I think I've found my little ticket to Hercules's demise."

I leave the Canyon Gorge and arrive at a large greek city known as Thebes. The place is packed. Tons of traffic in the streets.

"Okay..." I say, walking around. "I take it this must be the Olympus Coliseum Sora mentioned." I take a walk, looking around. I suddenly stopped when I realize I was about to step on a street and a high-speed cart zoomed by.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, jerk!" The man shouts.

Now that's just rude. I turn and keep walking on the sidewalk. This is a very strange city, probably dangerous too. As I walk, I noticed a poster on the wall.

'The Zeus Cap. Come to the Coliseum and make it to the top. Plus earn the chance to face Hercules in battle.'

"How interesting." I say. I continue to look around town. What I've noticed is that Hercules is pretty popular. Countless merchandise, banners, and a large statue in the heart of the city.

The one thing that surprises me is that the Heartless ratio is zero. That goes for Nobodies and the Unversed as well. I guess the darkness is afraid of Hercules, since he is a god in this world.

I become on alert when I felt something rubbing on my feet. I look down to see it's only a cat, rubbing against me. I give a single chuckle, kneel down to pick up the cat.

"What are yea doing here, little fella?" I ask.

The cat looks at me, then down. It meows and starts playing with my Wayfinder with its paws. I slightly pulled the cat away. "Nah-ah. That's not for you to play with." But that doesn't stop the cat. It manages to reach the Wayfinder and swipe it off. "What the..."

The cat jumps off of my hands, it grabs the Wayfinder by the mouth and runs off. "Hey! Get back here!" I start chasing after the cat.

I follow the cat out of the city, into the forest. I had to fight my way through a ton of Heartless on the way. Mostly Angel Stars, Large Belly's and Soldiers. The Large Belly's were the most annoying ones since I can only attack them from behind and I can hardly do that since they keep on turning to me.

After taking out the Heartless, I followed the cat into a dark, eerie forest filled with nothing but fog and dead trees.

The cat runs deep into the woods. Just then, it stops and it splits into Pain and Panic. Panic is the one who's currently holding the Wayfinder, and he starts panicking.

"Oh man! He's gonna kill us once we finds out we took...whatever this thing is." I stop at a distance away to see those two. I realized that I have been tricked. Panic tosses the Wayfinder to Pain. "Here. You take it."

Pain catches it then tosses it back. "No! You take it!"

They both constantly toss the Wayfinder to each other. "I don't want it!" Panic says.

"Neither do I!" Pain says.

"I have a life to live!" Panic says.

"Yeah, well I have a wife and kids!" Pain says.

I start to get mad. I stomp my way to those two. They didn't notice I was coming at them until I grab them by the tails, with one hand. Realizing their situation, they scream. I take the Wayfinder from them and then I glare at them.

"You've got ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't grind you two under my boot." I growled at them. Pain opens his mouth, about to speak but shortly stops when I summon my Keyblade. "Time's up!"

"Wait! What!? What happen to the ten seconds?" Panic asks.

Pain holds his hands together begging. "Please! Please! Don't kill us! We were only following orders! We don't mean any harm!"

I roll my eyes and groans, then I drop those two. "Fine. I'll let you two off with a warning."

Pain and Panic gets on their feet and starts running off in fear. I watch them run off until they're out of sight. I put the Wayfinder back around my neck. I take a look to see where I'm at.

"Now...where to go?" I ask.

I start walking deeper into the woods, looking around cautiously. At one point, I've arrived at a small area with a cauldron in the middle. I'm confused at the cauldron, why would that be in the middle of nowhere in a dark dead forest.

I take a smell, something stinks. Smells like...smoke and death. Just then, my answer is found. "It's a funny thing, right?" I look up to see Hades laying on a dead tree like a hammock. "Some people just take what's most important to us and runs off with it." Hades stands up. "Ah well, what are yea gonna do?"

Hades jumps off, I stand back and he lands right in front of me. "Hey, how yea doing?" Hades holds a hand out. "Name's Hades. Lord of the Dead."

"I'm well aware of who you are." I say. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. Nothing." Hades says. "I just saw you took out that Hydra, I was impressed with your fighting styles back there."

"Well, good." I walk off. "I'll be going then."

I suddenly stop when Hades moves right in front of me. "Wait, wait! Actually, I do have one little favor to ask you."

"Not interested." I say, continuing to walk.

Hades stops me once again. "Wait a moment, just hear me out." I'm surprised this hot-head is keeping his cool. "I'm sure you've heard of a certain hero named Hercules, right?" I give a slow nod. Hades turns and slowly walks ahead, waving his hands in the air. "He's something all right. All brave and super strong. Handsome too. Can take out any monster with a punch." Just then, he loses his cool and burst into red flames. "HE DRIVES ME CRAZY!"

I brace myself for a battle. The flames dies down and Hades is angrily breathing heavy. Then his flames turn to blue and relaxes. "Sorry, lost my cool back there." Hades clears his throat. "Anyways, there's a little tournament happening at the coliseum. All I want you to do is fight Hercules in the coliseum...TO THE DEATH!"

I see what's going on here. "Sorry, but I'm not interested." I was about to leave until Hades comes next to me, wrapped an arm over my shoulders.

"Ah-ha! I see the problem. What's in it for yea you might wonder?" I'm really not wondering what's in it for me. "Well, what if I tell you, my friend." Hades pokes his finger on my chest. At least it didn't hurt like it would from the Lord of the Dead. "I can offer you a special reward, hmm?" I say nothing, but I do raise my eyebrow in curiosity. Hades looks over me. "Oh ladies."

Wicked chuckles happens. I turn around. At first, there's shadows, then out of the fog reveals three ugly undead women. "We are the Fates!" Clotho says. "We know and see everything! Past!"

Atropos takes the eyeball and puts it in one of her sockets. "Present!"

Lachesis takes the eyeball and puts it in one of her sockets. "And future."

If these girls are my reward, I would decline and put Hades on my ignore list. "Would you three be dears and offer our little friend here a taste...of his reward?"

"Oh sure thing." Atropos says.

The three of then gathers materials and throws them all in the cauldron, which starts to react a bit catastrophicly. What they're putting in are rotten meat, old bones, a spider Lachesis blow from her large nose, I reacted disgustedly from that one, bat salvia, a jar of eyeballs, frog legs, snake vemon, worms, dog tongues.

Clotho comes to me and pulls out a single hair from my head. "Ow!" I say. Then she puts it in the cauldron. A ton of smoke comes out of the cauldron.

"Now. Time for the chant." Clotho says. "Double, double toil and trouble! Fire burn and caldron bubble!"

Atropos continues the chant. "Fillet of a fenny snake! In the caldron boil and bake!"

Now Lachesis continues it. "Eye of newt and toe of frog! Wool of bat and tongue of dog!"

Then they all chanted together. "Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting! Lizard's leg and owlet's wing! For a charm of powerful trouble! Like a hell-broth boil and bubble!"

The three 'witches' raises their arms in the air, and a large blast of smoke bursts out of the cauldron. I become startled by the blast of smoke. The smoke dies down, returning the cauldron to normal. "Soup's done." Clotho says.

The ladies takes out bowls and scoops up some soup. "Wait...What?" I ask, disappointed. "I thought this is my reward."

"Oh no, sweetheart." Atropos says. "It's our lunch."

"And what's with that stupid chant?" I asked.

"Just trying something new." Lachesis says. Lachesis hands me a bowl of the soup. "Come dear, you must be famish." The fates gather around the cauldron eating. I look down at the soup, disgusted. I know if I eat this, I'll die.

I toss the soup over my shoulder and set the bowl down. When the fates are done eat, they gather in front of me. "And now. Let's see what's in store for you."

Lachesis takes the eyeball. The three witches casts their magic on the eyeball. It floats and turns into some kind of vision. The vision reveals the times of me and Aqua in the Land of Departure.

"In the past. You were found with no memory of anything." Clothos says. "You were found and brought to a new family. You were quite fond with the Keyblade wielder, Aqua. You were so fond with her, she became your mother." The visions now move on to the parts where tragedy strikes. "But one day, the darkness attacked and it slowly took away your family. Until it took away the person you cared the most."

Clothos stands back then Atropos takes place. The visions shows everything about my current time on my search to find Aqua. "In the present, you seek to find and rescue your friend. You thought she was dead, but soon realized she's alive, just barely. Now you go on a peerless journey to bring her back from the voids of the dark."

Atropos stands back then Lachesis takes place. The visions now shows a time when I face Hercules in the coliseum. "In the future, when you accept the deal. You will battle Hercules." The visions shows my battle against Hercules, up until the point where I stand above him with a foot on his chest to hold him down. I hold my Keyblade and raise it over my head. "And kill him." That's when I impale the blade through his head. The vision now shows Hades opening a dark portal. "By completing the deal, you will be reunited with your friend." Aqua stumbles out of the portal. Just as it closes, she collapses and I caught her in my arms. then the vision shows a time in Radiant Garden with me and Aqua standing outside of Merlins house, hugging. "You will be together again!"

The fates wickedly laughs, then they instantly vanish. I say or do nothing, just taking everything in that I just saw.

Hades stands behind me, with a look on his face that says he's waiting for an answer. "Well...?"

I take a deep breath through the nose and out of the mouth. "Let me get this straight." I turn to face Hades. "I enter the tournament. Fight Hercules...kill him...and then you give me back Aqua."

Hades cheers. "Oh! Baby! We have a winner! Finally, someone who understands business!" Hades stands next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "You know, I'm starting to like you. Maybe after we're done here, we can hang out sometime in the Underworld. Have a little drink, celebrate Hercule's death and I can take your soul and watch it go into the underworld."

My eyes widen open hearing that and I stand back, position to fight. Hades laughs a little. "Chill, man. I was just joking on that last part. I use to be a comedian centuries ago. Hey, how come a zombie can't hold down a job? Huh...go on, ask."

I sighed and crossed my arms, deciding to play along. "How come?"

"Because he works himself to death!" Hades bursts out laughing. "Get it? Ha, ha. I kill myself! Ha! Ha! Ha! Get it? Lord of the Dead! Kill! Oh, I'm on fire!" Hades laughs even more. "On fire! That's three in a row! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Hades takes a deep breath, sighs as he wipes a tear from his eye. The tear drops on the ground and burst into flames. "The boys back in the Underworld Cafe would love this." Hades sighs again as he wipes his hands. "So, anyways." Now he holds out his hand in front of me. "We got ourselves a deal?"

I look at Hades hand, then back at him. He smirks telling me to accept the deal. After a moment of hesitation, I shake it. Sealing the deal.


	6. The Tournament

**A/N: I just made a deal with the lord of the dead! Do you people really think that was a good idea? Well, then I guess we find out as we now move on to the tournament at the coliseum.**

World: Olympus Coliseum

* * *

I enter the gates of the Olympus Coliseum. I look at the very large building in between the two statues of warriors with their swords clashed. This is my first time at the Coliseum. I usually enter the Mirage Arena far out in the World. I start walking to the front doors the the coliseum and entered.

Just as I entered the lobby, Phil is in one of his moods. "What do you mean he can't make it!"

"I'm sorry, Philoctetes. But Auron can't make the tournament tonight." A citizen says.

"The tournament begins now and I need a fighter out there! It's not like one is just gonna walk right in, is it?" Phil says.

I close the door behind me. Once I do, Phil turns to see me. "I'll enter the tournament."

"You're hired!" Phil moves behind me and starts pushing me into the arena. "Your match starts right now! Move it!"

As soon as I pass the entrance, I start moving on my own. I come outside in the arena. The place is packed. The crowds roar with cheer as I make my way to the center.

Round one: The Creepers.

My opponents are the Unversed Floods, Heartless Shadows and Nobodies Dusk. I summon my Keyblade and start the battle.

The Shadows flatten themselves in the floor, crawling around like a bunch of cowards. I start attacking the Dusks. Few of them weave around to attack. Floods strike at me then the Shadows stands back up. I cast Zero Gravity, sending all of them in the air.

I enter Spell Weaver and start striking the enemies. I've manage to defeat half of them before the Zero Gravity wears off. I've reach to my full power and unleash Spell Weaver.

Spell Weaver finished off the enemies. The crowd cheers with delight, and I walk back into the lobby.

"That was amazing kid!" Phil says. "I haven't seen a fight like that since Sora took on Cerberus nearly two years ago!"

"I had a lot of training." I say.

"Yeah. Well, rest up son. I gotta go set things up for the next match." Phil makes his leave. When he does, I head back to the courtyard.

"Big brother!" I look up, surprised. Serah is running up to me from the gates.

Serah is kind of like a sister to me. We grow up together in Radiant Garden when Merlin found me, she was two. It's possible that she actually thinks I'm her brother.

"Serah. What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I heard you were entering the Tournament at the Coliseum. So I came to support." Serah says.

"Really? I just won my first match. I guess the word's getting around fast." I say.

Serah nods. "Well, I'm gonna go take my seat. Good luck, big brother." Serah and I enters the lobby. We went our separate ways. She goes to her set in the audience while I enter back the arena.

Round two: Dusk to Dawn

Four Dusks and Two Dawns, an Unversed creature with a mix of Dusks and Soldiers. I strike swiftly at the Dusks, then I reach full power and do Fever Pitch, rapidly striking then finished with five lines of light in front of me. The attack finishes two Dusks. The other two weaves around and attacks me.

I focus my attacks on the Dusks, casting a Fire spell at them. The Dawns strikes at me, twisted movement of the Dusks and spinning strikes of the Soldiers. I do Wishing Edge, finishing off the last of the Dusks, then cast Thunder, finishing off the Dawns.

I now move onto the next round.

Round three: Time's Up

Three Time Bombs and five Minute Bombs. I start off with Zero Gravity, then I strike at the Nobodies and Heartless as they float midair, then I enter Star Surge and resume attacking. Half of the enemies are defeated by the time Zero Gravity wears off. The Minute bombs tackles and, the Time Bombs just float by setting off their timers.

I cast Dusk at the Time Bombs, then I reach to my full power and unleash Star Surge, defeating all of the remaining enemies.

The crowd cheers at my performance out in the arena. "I gotta say. This guy's amazing." Phil says.

I now move on to my next match.

Round four: Sword Dance

Two Dual Blades, two Samurai's and a Knight, an Unversed medieval warrior with a sword and shield. This certainly looks interesting. I drink a potion to enter Critical Impact then I strike hard on the enemies. The Dual Blades tries to block my attacks, but my brute force is too strong and I break through the defenses.

The Samurai's take out their swords and starts attacking me. I block their attacks and they quickly staggered. The Knight holds its shield up, prepared to block. I cast Zero Gravity, sending the enemies in the air. Then I use Strike Raid, destroying the Dual Blades, then I finished off the Samurai's and Knight with the full force of Critical Impact.

I know enter the semi-final match

Round five: Cat fight

Three Saberon's. Nobodies that are cats in humanoid forms. Mostly female. The Saberon's make the first move, they're pretty fast. For this fight, I mostly guarded myself from their attacks. When I get the second to attack, I cast Zero Gravity. Was the only thing I know at the moment to stop their attacks. While they're floating in the air, I start striking at them.

I cast Halo, defeating one of the Saberon's, then I enter Star Surge. I strike hard on the next Saberon until it's defeat. The last one falls on the ground, then it strikes at me. I took the hits, then cast Cure to restore my health, then I continue striking at the Saberon, then finished it with a Dusk spell.

The crowd cheers for my victory. Serah is cheering the loudest. Now it's time for the final round on this tournament. A very large, muscular centaur, Nessus, walks in center stage. I look up, he's about seven times my size.

Nessus looks down at me and snorts. "Step aside two legs!" He growls at me.

I summon my Keyblade, making my fighting stance. "Make me."

Round six: Nessus, the mighty Centaur

I make the first few strikes, attacking the large centaur. Nessus raises its front hoofs then stomps the ground with them. I staggered from the damage but recovered quickly. I cast Thunder, then I reach full power and unleashed Star Surge. This horse-man is tough all right.

Nessus leaps back then stampedes. I move out of the way before he managed to squash me. He does hit the coliseum wall and then loses conscious. To my advantage, I attack him while he's out cold. I do Blitz, then I enter Fever Pitch. As I strike, Nessus gets back on it's...hoofs. He punches me, it was pretty hard. I even got knocked back.

When I recover, I cast Halo to restore my health and to hurt the monster. I've reached full power and unleashed Fever Pitch. Nessus falls hard, I have defeated him.

The crowd roars with excitement. I turn from the arena and walk back into the lobby.

I walk out to the coliseum gates with Phil. "You were good out there champ! I've got two words for yea: Amazing!"

I look down at Phil. "That's one word."

"You're on in five minutes. Better get some rest." Phil says, returning to the lobby.

I just watch Phil return to the lobby, then I notice Serah come out. "You were awesome out there, big brother!" Serah walks up to me until she's in front of me. "When I saw that large fighter, I almost thought you were toast. But I knew you can handle him."

I give a single chuckle. "I guess they set the battle difficult to childs play."

Serah laughs. Just then, there's a puff of smoke. Serah became startled. The smoke clears, revealing Hades. "Patrick! My main man! You were amazing out there!"

Serah gets behind me. "What are you doing here, Hades?" I ask.

Hades walks up to me, putting an arm around my shoulder. "I just came here to say congratulations on the tournament. Now you get to face wonder breath himself!" Hades leans his face close to mine. "You know what to do, do yea?"

Serah seems concern, I give a small nod. "I do."

Hades backs up. "All right! Good." Hades walks away, then stops after five feet and looks back. "Oh, and do me a favor. Put on quite a show before you...finish the job. I am gonna be watching the match. PAIN! PANIC!"

Pain and Panic runs in. They kneel and bow before Hades. "Yes your deadliness!" They both said.

"Fetch me a seat at the highest point of the coliseum. Oh, and fetch me a beg of nuts as well. But not cashews! You know how much I hate that stuff!"

Pain and Panic makes a run for it, doing Hades demands, then Hades vanishes. I'm about to return to the lobby until Serah's talk stops me. "Wait." I turn to look at Serah. "What is he talking about?"

I was quite for a moment, then I speak. "Serah. This maybe surprising to hear, but...Aqua's alive."

She's defiantly surprised to hear that. "What? ...But, that can't be."

"No! She is! I saw it with my own eyes!" I say. "She's trapped in the Realm of Darkness. So, I made a deal with Hades. He'll bring me back Aqua...if I kill Hercules."

"You what!?" Serah yells. "Patrick! Why would you do such a horrible thing!?"

"I'm doing this for Aqua's sake. I swore that I would get her out of the darkness and bring her home." I say.

"But that doesn't mean you have to kill someone for it." Serah says.

"Yes it does! You know how important Aqua is to me. She was like a mother to me! I have no memory of my home, my family. In my time of need, Aqua took me in and raised me as her son. You have no idea how it felt losing her, even after the darkness took away my home, then Ven and Terra. Ven and Terra are gone now, probably forever. But Aqua's, she's still alive and there's still a chance to save her! I'm fighting Hercules and I'm going to finish the deal, and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me!"

Serah says nothing, just stands there frozen from what I've said. Then she finally speaks. "No...I can't stop you...only you can. You know what you're doing is wrong. Think about Aqua. How would she feel or think if she found out you murdered someone?" I say nothing, just stand there like a cold statue. "I'm not going to make you forfeit the match, and I'm not going to talk you out of it. But if you still want to finish this...deal. Then I won't stop you."

Serah walks back into the lobby without saying another word. I just stand back watching her leave, up until she's gone and Phil's by the door. "You're on, champ. It's show time."

I return into the arena, where everyone cheers. When I make it to the center, I look at the audience. I found Serah in front row. She's the only one who isn't cheering, just looking at me with concern and worry.

I turn my attention ahead when people are chanting 'Hercules' Hercules is arriving at the arena, waving his arms at the audience. He really adores his people.

Hercules turns his attention to me as soon as he's right in front of me. "Hey, you must be the challenger." Hercules says. "Let's have a good fight, for the people here." Hercules holds his hand out, for me to shake it. But I don't. Instead, I turn and walk away, taking my place. So does Hercules.

Hades appears at a tall throne seat at on wall of one end of the arena. "Oh! Baby! This is going to be good!" He shouts.

I summon my Keyblade, making my stance. Hercules does the same, with his sword. I just watch Hercules in place. When I do, I hear voices in my head:

[Vanitas] "He's just playing with his little toy until it breaks."

[Hades] "Fight Hercules in the coliseum...TO THE DEATH!"

[Serah] "Think about Aqua. How would she feel or think."

I close my eyes, take a deep breath. "Let the rumble BEGIN!" Hades shouts.

Just like that, I charge making the first strike. I go for the side of Hercule's head, only he was able to block that strike with his sword. I make a few more strikes, parried and blocks them all. Hercules raises his fist to punch me, but I dodged it. I grab Hercules by the shirt and toss him over me.

Hercules falls on the ground. He gives a single chuckle. "Not bad." Hercules gets back on his feet. "You're more skilled then I thought."

I make my position to strike. "Come at me and I'll show you what I'm really made of!" I say.

Hercules charges towards me. I cast a Fire spell at him. Hercules avoids it. Hercules strikes me with his sword, I dodge every strike. I leap back and do Strike Raid. Hercules comes at me as he dodges the Keyblade. Hercules punches me in the stomach, causing me to stagger. I take a few blows from Hercules, then he becomes covered on light. He builds up his energy until he unleashes it. Holy Nova.

The attack knocks me back. I fall on the ground, near my Keyblade unconscious. Hercules stands in place watching me. The crowd cheers. Hades stands up, surprised. "What? That's not suppose to happen!" Hades says.

Hercules looks at his audience, waving at them. Hades gets steamed and growls in frustration, but then cools down noticing something. "Huh?"

Serah stands up, looking at me. My hand slowly reaches for my Keyblade, then grabs it. "Stay down." Serah whispers.

I slowly get back on my feet. I look at Hercules. I hold my Keyblade in front of me. I take slow pants as I stand in place, then I charge shouting.

Hercules turns and is surprised as I'm right in front of him. I make a swift strike, Hercules dodges it in time. "Hey! Wait!" Hercules backs away, dodging every attack I throw at him. "Stop! What are you doing? The match is over!"

Hercules takes out his sword, only to soon have it strike right out of his hands. Hercules looks at his sword as it flies out of his hands, then he turns to me just as I punch him hard in the face, knocking him down. I grab Hercules by his shirt, holding him in front of me, and deliver him another blow. Hercules lays on his side. I walk up to him, kick him to lay on his back, then I'm on top of him, punching him side to side of his face for three times. Then I grab him, lift him above him, then smash him to the ground.

Hercules lays on his back, weak and injured. I slowly walk up to him. Hercules tries to get up but failed. I stand in front of him, a foot on his chest, just like the vision the Fates showed me. Hercules looks up at me dazed as I draw my Keyblade in front of his face. I grab the hilt with two hands.

"My favorite part of the game!" Hades says with amusement. I pull my Keyblade back over my head. "Sudden death!"

I shout, Hercules looks away eyes closed, and I slam my Keyblade down, creating a large dense smoke in it's wake. The audience gasps and stands on their feet, Serah is hanging by the railings. Hades looks down with amusement.

The smoke starts to clear. My Keyblade is planted into the ground, but not through Hercules. Hercules opens his eyes, to see the Keyblade just inches away. I pull the Keyblade out of the ground, got off Hercules. I look down at him as he looks up at me, then I walk away without saying another word.

Hades appears in the arena, burning with rage. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IMBECILE!? FINISH HIM!"

I stop walk, but I don't turn to look back. "No." I say.

"What?!" Hade asks, surprised and angry, mostly surprised.

"You heard me. I said 'no'." I say.

Hades stutters. "But-what-I-w-we...we had a deal! You kill Zero boy here and I give you back your friend! You've gotta to do it! Come on!"

I turn around looking at Hades from the distance. "Aqua once told me something that I'll never forget, something I'll always carry with me: 'Always believe in the light. No matter what happens, no matter how dire the situation is, never forsaken it.'" Serah smiles hearing that. "I maybe desperate to find and rescue Aqua, but I still never lose sight in the light to save her. So the deal's off."

Hades is building up some anger, until he finally unleashes it by shouting in rage and unleashing a blast of fire in the air. the fire beam dies down, revealing Hades red, heavily panting angrily. After a while, he turns blue and cools down.

"No, no. It's fine." Hades says wither calm. "No. Really, it's cool. Go on, drop our deal. See if I care. Luckily for times like this, I've always come up with a plan B." Hades snaps his fingers. The gates at the end of the coliseum opens up. I have a bad feeling about this.

The gates open. Something inside growls. It slowly comes out of the shadows, revealing a giant black three headed dog. Cerberus. Cerberus stands in place, snarling and growling.

"You should have stuck with our deal, my friend. I hope you enjoy being a doggies chew toy." Hades says. "Have a nice day." Then Hades vanishes.

Cerberus stands there, growling, then it leaps towards Hercules, on top of him. I rush right in. Cerberus strikes, but I manage to block it just in time before it could hurt Hercules. My Keyblade and Cerberus's teeth clash. I hold Cerberus back with all of my strength.

"Serah! Get Herc out of here!" I shout.

Serah doesn't hesitate. She jumps out of the audience. Serah runs towards the battle, helps Hercules up. "Come on, Hercules." Hercules leans against Serah, Serah helps Hercules get out of here while I battle Cerberus.

I start off with Strike Raid, as I do, Cerberus does Flare Bombs, constantly spitting out balls of fire out of one head after the other. I start running around the field, avoiding the Flare Bombs. Cerberus spits the bombs for nine times then all three of the heads does the tenth one together, making it twelve I believe.

I cast Dusk at Cerberus then I strike. Cerberus roars and then the heads constantly bites and snaps. I got hit for most of them. I cast Halo, unleashing the ring of light. Then I enter Star Surge and attack Cerberus. Cerberus stops its bite attacks, then its mouth fills with dark smoke. The heads held up high, inhales deeply, then exhales right into the ground, releasing black smoke. Every second, dark energy bursts out of the very grounds I stand on.

I run around, avoiding the attacks while casting Fire and Thunder at Cerberus. The black magic ends and Cerberus leaps towards me. I dodge roll out of the way, but Cerberus hits me by swiping one of its paws at me. I do Aerial dive, jumping high then dive onto Cerberus with my Keyblade aimed down. I reach to my full power and unleash Star Surge.

Cerberus does Flare Bomb once again. I run around casting Fire and Thunder at Cerberus. I use Strike Raid at it as well, I took a few hits form the Flare Bomb, then I had to cast Cure to restore health. Cerberus finishes its Flare Bomb, then I continue attacking it.

Cerberus roars in agony then its body falls, slipping into unconsciousness. I pant, still in my fighting stance, then the audience cheers as loud as they could.

Later in the Lobby, Hercules is sitting on a pedestal with Phil. I stand in front of him. "I'm sorry, Hercules. I should have known not to listen to Hades. I was fool for making a deal with him."

Hercules still smiles. "Ah, don't worry about it. It happens all the time. You should have seen what Cloud did back when he was working for Hades."

"I can't imagine it." I say. "So...we're cool?"

"Yeah. We're cool." Hercules and I shake hands.

When that's done, I leave the lobby, heading towards the gates. I head for the gates, but stopped when someone's calling me.

"Big brother!" I stopped and turn to see Serah. She's in front of me, bending down her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. After a moment, she stands straight. "I can't tell you how proud I am for what you did back there. And I know Aqua would be proud too."

I smile. "Thanks. That's good to know."

"What you said about there about the light, it made me happy that you said it." Serah says. "Please do me a favor. If you ever do find Aqua, tell her what you said."

I give a nod. "I will."

"I have something for you." Serah reaches into her pocket, then puts an object in my hand. "If you ever need any help, use it." I give a nod. "Good luck on your journey. I'll be cheering for you."

"Thanks Serah. I can always count on you." I say.

I get on my Hoverbike, start it up and leave this world, heading onto the next.

The item Serah gave me is a Lightning Charm. You know how Aqua, Ventus and Terra had D-links, linking with the friends, or enemies in Terra's case (Maleficent) through their Wayfinders. Well I have the same thing, and this charm links me with Serah's sister: Lightning Farron. All though linking with Lightning would also duplicate my Keyblade since some abilities would require dual wielding.


	7. The Soldier Girl

**A/N: The Coliseum was quite a hit wouldn't you say? And Serah was quite a help for me don't you think so? My journey to find and rescue Aqua still continues. Let's see where my journey takes place next...**

World: Land of Dragons

* * *

I arrived at the next world. I arrive at some flat grassland village. I take a walk around the field, wondering where I could be at. Up to the point, I arrive at this one farmhouse. I walk through the gate arriving at the courtyard. I taken by the beauty of the cherry blossom tree.

"Wow." I say, looking up at it. I stand in front of it. As I gaze upon, something hits me. Not literally but mentally. I get flash visions. They're pretty blurry, blinded by the light, but I can see the blossom tree in it. The visions give me an incredible headache. The pain becomes intense. I fall on my knees, hands on my head shouting in pain, until the pain becomes overwhelming and I slipped in unconsciousness.

How can that be? How could looking at a simple Cherry Blossom Tree cause so much pain? Could this be one of my forgotten memories? I wish I knew.

In my dreams, I'm a child. I'm out on the porch with Aqua. She's sitting on a rocking chair, slowly rocking back and forth, as I'm sitting on her lap and she's reading a book. It was a beautiful day. Sun shining, birds shining, the calming stream noise of the river. It was perfect. I rest my head on Aqua's shoulder, falling asleep. Aqua looks down at me, then smiles.

As the peaceful moment goes on, tragedy strikes. I woke up, in dream not in real world, shocked. Darkness is taking over, and Aqua is gone.

"Mommy?" I shout, beginning to panic. "Mommy!" Darkness strikes everywhere, destroying the beauty, the light, the castle.

I just stand in place, breathing heavily in fear, listening to the sound of my heart beat as the thumping gets louder and louder.

Finally, I wake up, screaming. I'm panting, covered in sweat. It was only a nightmare. I release a sigh, planting my face in my hands. I take a moment to relax and recover my strength, then I look around my surroundings. To my surprise, I'm in some house.

"What?" The last thing I remembered was looking at the farmhouse, then everything else was black nothingness. I'm guessing I'm inside the house, but I don't recall asking to rest for the day.

I get out of bed, then noticed my trench coat and boots are removed. I walk to the door, slide it open and down the hallway. I hear voices as I wonder. Something about 'She can be killed' or 'Why would she do this?'. I follow the voices until I arrive at some dinning room. Three people. A husband, wife and an old lady.

They are sitting on their knees in front of the table talking, but their conversation stops when they see me. "He's awake." The old lady says.

The wife gets up and grabs hold of my hand. "Come, you must sit. You shouldn't overdo it."

The wife has me sitting on a chair. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I say.

The old lady comes up to me with a cup of tea. "Here. This should help."

I accept the tea. "Thank you." I take a sip of the tea, it's pretty good. "What happened? The last thing I remembered was arriving at some house. Then...everything else was all black."

The husband gets up, walking to me with his cane for support. "We're not sure. My daughter and I found you out in the yard passed out."

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"Two days." The wife answers. Two days? That's shocking. "We're the Fa family. I'm Fa Li."

"I'm Fa Zhou." Fa Zhou answers.

"You can call me Grandma." Grandma Fa says.

"Patrick." I answered. I look to have notice there's only three of them, since they mentioned they have a daughter. "Where is this daughter you spoke of?"

The three of them look down in worry and nerve. I can tell what happened...sort of. "Mulan is gone. There's a war going on and she took my place in the army." Fa Zhou says.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Can't you stop her?" I asked.

"We can't. She's already long gone. And if we reveal her as a women, she will be killed." Fa Li says.

I seem surprised hearing that. Just then, loud crashing happens outside. The Fa family hurries outside. When they're gone, I get on my feet as well, in fear what it could be.

I'm outside of the house, just as I thought. "Those creatures are back!" Grandma Fa says.

The yard is full of Assault Riders, Nightwalkers and Wyvern's. "Heartless." I say under my breath. I walk out of the house, past the Fa family, and summoned my Keyblade. "Stay back."

The Heartless turn their attentions to me. I'm not at my full strength, for I'm still recovering from the mind attack before. I suddenly remembered what Serah told and gave me.

I take out the Lightning Charm and hold it over my Wayfinder. Light energy glows from the charm, and another Black Angel Keyblade appears in my other hand. I can feel the powers of Lightning Farron seeping through my veins, I am renewed with new found strength, and I attack the Heartless.

I strike swift but powerful, the power of dual wielding. I use Lightning Strike, pull my Keyblades over my shoulders then swing them, unleashing a wave of thunder in front of me. the Assault Riders comes charging at me. I dodge their attacks, then I link the Keyblades by their keychains. The keychains straights and then becomes solid, then I wield the weapon by the keychains and perform Razor Gale. Spinning the Keyblades around me, striking enemies near me and unleashing a whirl wave in its wake.

The Nightwalkers are defeat. Wyverns flies around, but I bring them down with Thundara. Half of the Wyvern's are defeated. One of the Assault Riders hits me with his spinning lance. I get knocked back, but recovered. I next used Petal Storm. I switch my left Keyblade backhanded, then I spin around in a whirlwind with Rose Petals spawning, flowing through the wind of my movement.

Two Wyverns and a Assault Rider are all that remains. I now reach to my full power, unleashing Zantetsuken. I leap towards the Heartless, spinning round and round at high speed slashing at the Heartless. I land past them, then the flash of light cuts slashes the Heartless finishes them, and my link with Lightning ends.

I turn to the Fa family, who approaches me. "That's amazing. Are you some kind of warrior?" Fa Li asks.

"Something like that." I say.

"If you're that good. Do you mind finding our Mulan and bring her home safely?" Fa Zhou asks.

"I think I can manage that." I say.

I stay for a few minutes at the Fa household to recover some of my strength, then I put on my boots and coat, mount a horse and went off. They even gave me a picture of Mulan so I know who she is. As I ride, I think of the Fa family.

I can't believe that their own daughter would go into war just like that. I feel like I'm reliving that one day when Aqua had to leave for her journey. I can't even imagine why a girl would risk her live going out into a war, even when she could be killed if they find out she is a girl. The last part kind of disturbed me, so I'm guessing she's disguised as a boy.

I arrive at some Bamboo Grove, I now go on foot. At the end, I found some man by a large rock with a shadow creature on it. I'm a bit on alert with the large shadow, but I also focus on the boy. I look at the picture of Mulan, they have a striking resemblance. I'm guessing this is Mulan.

I now turn my attention to the large shadow. I summon my Keyblade, slowly position myself to do a Strike Raid. I hurl my Keyblade back then throw it. The Keyblade hits the shadow directly, but it doesn't hurt it. The Shadow becomes startled, so does the soldier. The shadow vanished and something small leaps out of those rocks to the soldier.

"Wha..." I'm confused. Was that shadow really just a shadow? I make an approach. The soldier looks at me, then suddenly calms down. "What's going on here?" I point at the large rock. "I thought I saw a Heartless."

A tiny red serpent dragon comes out of the soldiers armor. "Who are you calling a heartless! I'm a bona fide guardian dragon!"

The dragon jumps off standing on the ground. "That shadow I saw...was a gecko?"

The dragon is hurt. "Gecko! That does it!" The dragon holds up his fists. "You will suffer the full fury of the powerful indestructible Mushu!"

Mushu charges towards me, shouting, then kicks me right in the boot. He now starts booting on my boot, which does no pain at all. Then he grabs hold of my foot, trying to lift me but failing. I just feel pathetic watching this. Mushu releases some air and backs up. "Betcha scared now, huh?"

"Terrified." I say sarcastically. I look up at the soldier. "So, you're the girl I've heard about."

"Uh, n-no. No! I'm clearly a boy." The soldier says in a deep voice. "I am...uh, Ping. Son of Fa Zhou."

I walk over to the soldier, pulling out the ribbon in her hair that's holding it together. "Cut the act, Mulan. I know it's you. I'm not dumb."

Mulan sighs in disappointment. "All right. You got me." Mulan gets a good look on me. "Wait...I remember you, You're that boy from the yard."

"Yeah, yeah. I was knocked out and taken in. I'm well aware of that." I say. "Let's get to the point. I'm here to take you home."

"No! I can't go!" Mulan says. "I have to bring honor to my family."

I cross my arms. "That's why you signed up for the war? Honor?"

"Well, that's not the main reason. I did it to protect my father." I raised an eyebrow hearing that. "He's old and still hurt from the last war. If I let him go, he'll die. So I stoled his armor and dressed up like a boy to take his place." I give a small sigh, looking down. "I'm sorry my parents sent you all the way out here, but I'm not going home."

Mulan walks past me, and Mushu follows. "Wait." Mulan stops and turns, then I turn. "I'm coming with you."

Mulan seems surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. I figured you can use a hand out there. I'll be honest, you are not very convincing to being a boy." I say.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! We've got someone to help us fit right in!" Mushu says.

"Thank you for your help." Mulan says.

I hand Mulan back the ribbon so she can do her hair. "I'm Patrick, by the way." I start moving on. "Let's go. Stay close to me too."

Me and Mulan make our way through the Bamboo Grove, arriving at the base camp down below. We've made it to the base camp. I walk right in while Mulan stays behind. Mushu pops out of Mulans armor, by her head.

"Remember, girl. Manly!" Mushu says.

Mulan stands up straight. I stop and look back, seeing Mulan walking stumbling with her knees buckled. She looks pathetic. I groan putting a hand on my head. Mulan walks past me, that's when I grab her by the back of her uniform and pull her close to me.

"You're walking like you have to go to the bathroom." I say to her.

"I'm trying to blend in." Mulan says.

"Well you're not doing a very good job at it." I say. "Just...act natural." Me and Mulan walks around the base camp, this time Mulan's walking more normally. Just then, a tall skinny sodlier, Ling, starts fleeing in terror, so does a short gorlia man, Yao.

"RUN!" Yao shouts.

Chien-Po makes a run for it as well. The captain of the army, Shang, runs in as well. "Get back here, soldiers!" Shang looks at us. "Who are you two? You're not in the army."

"What's going on?" I ask.

"That's none of your concern!" The Captain gets attacked from behind, knocked past me and Mulan. We both look ahead to see an army of Heartless.

"What are those things?" Mulan asks.

I summon my Keyblade. "Heartless! I hope you're ready to fight."

Me and Mulan fights off the Heartless. Of course I do most of the fighting while Mulan just gives a slow single swing on that sword of hers. I fight off the Heartless using Strike Raid, then continue attacking them. The Assault Riders spins their lance at me. I get knocked back by quickly recover, then I do Shimmering Sweep, aerial spin striking with light energy.

Half of the Heartless are Defeated, and Mulan has killed...none of them. The girl is having trouble taking out a Shadow, and it's not even flatten in the ground like the coward they are. I cast Zero Gravity, sending the Heartless in the air and then I enter Star Surge, then strike at the Heartless.

All of the Heartless got defeated. Shang approaches to us. "You were really good." He says.

"Uh...thank you sir, it was nothing." Mulan says in a boy voice.

"I wasn't talking to you." Shang says with disapproval, then he approaches me. "I was talking to him. What's your name, soldier?"

I stand straight, showing respect. "I am Patrick...Fa Patrick." I lied, then I turn my attention to Mulan. "And this is Ping, son of Fa Zhou."

"Patrick? What kind of name is Patrick?" Shang asks.

"Don't ask me, never have parents who go to fortune tellers for answers." I say.

"Well, you got me there. My parents went to one for my middle name." I was about to ask but Shang interrupts. "Don't ask. I didn't know Fa Zhou had two sons."

"Technically, we're cousins. But yes." I say.

"I see. Well, you're welcome to join my army." Shang says. Shang turns to Mulan. "You on the other hand can go home."

Mulan is hurt to hear that. "Wha-me? But why? Captain, I want to fight."

"You are not fitted for war, soldier." Shang says. "Go home. I already have a Fa who can fight good."

Shang makes his leave, Mulan looks down in disappointment. "Stop!" Shang stops, turn around to face me. "If you want me in your army, you have to take Ping too."

"What? You want me to have him in my army?" Shang asks. "You would rather dishonor my troops?"

I swing my Keyblade right in front of Shang, inches away from his face. That earns gasps from all the other soldiers, and a startled look from Shang. "I stay! Ping stays!"

Shang looks at me, I give him a look that's telling him I'm not bluffing. The soldiers around us mutters, saying stuff like 'Who is this guy' 'What is he thinking?' 'I'm never seen anyone stand up against the captain like that'.

Shang groans in defeat. "Fine. Ping can stay. But you're responsible for training him."

I lower my Keyblade. "Fair enough."

Shang turns and leaves. "Back to work, soldiers!"

Me and Mulan head to the outside walls of the base camp. We figured we could use an open space for training, and away from men so they won't know Mulan's a girl.

"Phew. That was a close call back there." Mushu says.

"No kidding. Thanks for the save back there." Mulan says.

I stand in place. "It's a bit early to be thanking me. Now it's time for training." I turn facing Mulan. "First thing's first. We need to practice with your sword work. Cause you fight like a girl."

Mulan is offended by that comment. "Hey!"

I hold my Keyblade out in front of me. "The way you fight with a sword, you don't use it as a weapon. You use it as an extension of your arm." I swing my Keyblade around a few times, showing Mulan an example. "That's how it goes. Got it?"

Mulan nods. She takes out her sword and repeats my method. She was at first, but then loses balance and the sword flies out of her hands. Sword flies towards me, until I grab it just inches it away from my face. Mulan looks up at me in worry. "Maybe we should try something else." I say.

I now have Mulan balanced on a pole, holding a bucket of water on her head and two buckets of water, one of each side, hanging from a pole she's holding over her shoulders. So far, her balance is...off. She's having trouble keeping it, staggering around. I'm surprised she has yet to fallen.

"Concentrate. Maintain your balance." I say.

"I'm trying!" Mulan says.

"Never try! Only do!" I say.

"What does that mean? How can you do something without even trying?" Mulan lost her balance there. She nearly fall but manage to keep her stand.

"Well, you..." I think for a moment, but I couldn't come up with the words. "Actually, that pretty much confused me too, but Master Eraqus use to say it a lot." Mulan yells as she falls off the pole and water spills everywhere. "Go again!"

Balancing wasn't very well. Only small progression was made from it. We move on to a small technic, where Mulan wears a blindfold and wields a bamboo stick and I throw rocks at her as she tries to deflect them.

I'm throwing the rocks at her, and all she's doing is getting hit. "Focus, Ping!" I say.

"How can I? I can't even see!" Mulan says.

"The point of the lesson is hearing. Many enemies can be as quiet as a pin drop. Listen deeply for the wind the rocks make." I say. "Again."

Mulan takes in place, taking a deep breath. I throw a rock at her, she swings it, only too soon and ends up being hit. "I thought I heard it that time."

"Maybe you did, but you should also try to detect when to strike." I say.

Mulan did okay on the part of the training. Now we move onto combat. I fight Mulan and I've got her knocked out from the very beginning. Seriously, that girl wouldn't last ten seconds. I even disarmed her of her weapon. Mulan gets her butt whopped for the tenth time.

"Pathetic!" I say. "I have seen a five year old little boy that can fight better then you."

Mulan looks up at me. "How would you know that?"

"Cause I was that five year old little boy, and I was using a toy sword for a weapon!" I make my fighting position. "Again!"

Mulans is rough on her training. This is going to take a while.

Nightfall takes the skies. Mulan collapses down on the ground, panting in exhaustion. I just stand in front of her, looking down at the soldier girl.

"That is enough for today." I walk away. "We'll resume again tomorrow."


	8. Field of Battle

**A/N: I'm trying to make a man out of Mulan. Do you guys think I'm going a little too hard on the girl? Well let's find out when we go into battle. How about the opening scene with the blossom tree. Any of you can guess what that was about?**

World: Land of Dragons

* * *

Dinner is being served in the Base Camp. I'm in line with all the other soldiers. Mulan is in her tent outside of the camp, resting and probably recovering from the training sessions I've been giving her.

I get two trays of the food and then make my way to the tent outside of camp. Inside, Mulan is sitting, out of her soldier boy disguise. I hand her a tray. "Thank you." She says.

"Don't mention it." I say.

I sit across from Mulan and we eat in silence, until the girl speaks. "Hey, Patrick. I've been wondering. What are you doing out here?" I look at Mulan. "I mean, not out here in the army, but here in China. You don't look like you're from here."

I look down, trying to think wither or not what to say. I know I'm not suppose to meddle about other worlds. I speak carefully.

"I'm on a journey. I'm looking for someone." I say. "Fifteen years ago, I was found and taken in. A women named Aqua, she took good care of me. She was like a mother to me. We've done everything together...But then one day..."

I told Mulan about what happened to the Land of Departure. Though I had to make it sound less like it literally was another world. Mulan was pretty shocked to hear everything in the end.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry to hear that." Mulan says.

"Yeah. Me too. So that's why I'm helping you out. I know how it feels to lose a family member, I don't want you nor your family experience the same tragedy as I did." I say. "However, it's not a complete loss. I recently discovered that she's still alive, and I will find her."

"Yeah, well good luck with that. You'll probably never find her!" Mushu says.

Mulan slaps Mushu. "Mushu!" Mulan returns her attention to me. "You said this Aqua person was like a mother to you." I nod. "What happened to your real family?"

I look down. "I don't know. I don't have any memory of my real family, or my home." I set my tray down on the ground. "Everytime I try to remember, I get some major headache. The pain becomes overwhelming, I can't even remember the slightest piece of the lost memories."

"Is that why you were passed out in the yard?" Mulan asks.

"Maybe. I can't really remember." I say.

After dinner, me and Mulan went to sleep. I sleep in the tent inside the base camp, figured I'd give the girl her privacy. The sun starts to rise. As soon as it does, Shang alerted all the soldiers to be awaken. As soon as I got the news, I hurried over to Mulan's tent.

"Get up!" Mulan awakens startled. "News from the captain! We're needed on the front lines!"

Mulan is surprised. "What? Already!?"

"Get dressed! We need to move!" I say.

I hurry back to the base camp. When Mulan gets suited up, she joins in as well. Me and Mulan stand in the front lines of the army, behind Captain Shang. Shang turns to us and faces me and Mulan.

"I trust that Ping here is well trained." Shang says.

"I wouldn't say 'well' He's...uh, progressing fine. Good enough to be in the battlefield." I say.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Shang says. Shang faces forward, then gets on his horse. "Move out!"

Shang and the army moves on ahead. We wondered through the fields of China, we arrive at Checkpoint. That's when the Heartless attacked us. Me and Mulan take the front lines. I fight off the Heartless, then do Shimmer Sweep. Mulan is managing to throw a few swings with her sword. It's not good fighting, but it's better then how she fought back in the camp.

After the Heartless are defeated, Shang approaches us, well mostly towards Mulan. "I'll admit, that was some fine fighting. But you still need some work if you wish to be in the war." Shang says.

"Yes, captain." Mulan says.

Shang moves on ahead. I give Mulan a pat on the back. "Not bad, Ping."

Me and Mulan moves on ahead. We all take the path towards the Mountain Trail. So far. We have no encounters with any heartless. But that doesn't calm me down. I have a feeling they're waiting for just the right moment...

Just when we're on the trail, something large flies over us. Everyone was startled and we get a good look at the monster when it flies past us. "What was that?" Shang asks.

The monster is a large skeleton dragon with red eyes and crystal bones. The Midnight Flight. (Suppose to be a bun, as in the "Midnight Fright")

"A Heartless!" I say. I summon my Keyblade, chasing after the Heartless up the trail, until a swarm of Shadows and Nightwalkers appears in my path. "Gah! Even more Heartless!"

"Soldiers! To battle!" Shang orders.

We all attack the Heartless. I cast my Water and Ruin spells at them, then strike. Mulan attacks as well. With all of us, the Heartless soon falls then we moved on ahead. We get out of the short trench and come out of the opening of the Mountain Trail. That's when more Heartless spawn.

The Midnight Flight comes within sight as well. The giant heartless faces us and opens its mouth. Frost energy charges up. I soon realize what it's doing.

"Everyone take cover!" I warn. We all hide behind some boulders, moving out of sight. Midnight Flight soars ahead as it unleashes a powerful frost breath. The frost breath flies past us, and the heartless flies away from us. We all come out of hiding, keeping our eyes on the Midnight Flight.

"We're never gonna make it to the village with that thing on our tail." Shang says.

"Then we'll just have to shake it off." I say. "Come on, Ping!"

I rush on ahead, with Mulan following me. We run up the mountain trail. More Heartless spawn and we fight them, but we also keep our eyes on the sky for the Midnight Flight. That monster is constantly appearing and blasting frost breaths at us.

I cast Water then Ruin, and I enter Spell Weaver and start attacking the Heartless. Mulan was about to take out few of the Heartless, Shang is starting to be impressed, though he's still hiding it. The Midnight Flight makes its attack and me and Mulan takes cover.

Midnight Flight unleashes its frost breath. When it's over, Me and Mulan continues attacking the Heartless. I reach my full power and unleash Spell Weaver, finishing off the rest of the Heartless. After that, I cast Cure and we moved on.

We arrive at the cliff of the Mountain Trail, that's when the Midnight Flight swoops in in front of us, roaring at our faces.

"Can we take it?" Mulan asks.

I position myself to fight. "Only one way to find out."

Me and Mulan attack the heartless. Midnight Flight swipes its claws then bites at us. I do Strike Raid at the heartless. When done with that move, I enter Fever Pitch and swiftly strike. Midnight Flight does Shadow Gleam, darkness glows in its eyes then it releases purple beams aiming at me and Mulan.

I cast Cure to restore our health then cast Fire then do Shimmer Sweep. Midnight Flight does Ice Tomb, slams its claws to the grounds and pillars of ice shards rise out of the ground. I reach my full power and unleashed Fever Pitch. Mulan strikes at the Midnight Flight.

The Midnight Flight roars in agony then flies away, retreating. Me and Mulan stand in place, watching the monster getting away, then Mulan puts away her sword.

"Is it over?" She asks.

I slowly shook my head. "I don't think so..." I turn walking off. "It'll be back." Me and Mulan rejoined with the rest of the army, then continued on.

We've made it to the village in the mountains. "Thank goodness the village is still standing. But Shan Yu will be here soon."

"Who's Shan Yu?" I asked.

"She's the leader of the Hun army." Shang explains. "Our mission is to stop and defeat Shan Yu."

I nod. "Noted."

"We'll rest here for a while, then we move on to the Summit." Shang says. The army disbands. Me and Mulan stays with Shang. Shang turns his attention to me. "Excellent work out there." Shang turns to Mulan. "You...well, you did fine out there. But I expect more from you." Shang makes his leave.

Mushu pops out of Mulans armor. "All right, girl! The captain's warming up to yea!"

"I know, but still, I feel like it's not enough to bring honor to my family." Mulan says.

"Hey. Every little bit helps." I say.

"Hey! Ping!" Me and Mulan turns, to see Yao, Ling and Chen-po coming up at us. "You were pretty good out there, facing that giant creature." Chen-po says.

"No kidding. Even I wouldn't be brave enough to take it on." Yao says.

"Uh...thanks. But Patrick here has done most of the fighting." Mulan says.

All eyes turn to me, I just give a small shrug with my shoulders. Yao, Ling and Chen-po continue on with their conversation with Mulan about her achievement back in the Mountain Trail. Mulan feels a bit awkward at this situation.

I just stand back and watch with a small smile on my face, then that smile disappears and I go for a short walk outside the village. Light snow falls from the skies as I walk. I stop about thirty feet from the village, looking at my surrounds.

Snow. Nothing but snow. I kneel down and and scoop a hand full of snow, standing back up just looking at the snow in my one hand.

Being here reminds me of that one snow day back in the Land of Departure. It was my very first snow day, as far as I could even remember. I was so overwhelmed with excitement, I actually bolted from my room to out the door. I was outside for only three seconds then I rush back inside freezing to death.

Aqua laughed at my sudden burst of energy. She did find some winter clothes for me to wear, then she put her own on as well and we spend the day playing in the snow. We had fun together. Snowball fights, making a snowman, snow angels. I remember Ventus and Terra joining in for the Snowball fights.

My favorite movement was at night, when me and Aqua huddled together by the fireplace with hot chocolate. I can't remember exactly why it's my favorite, but I do remember I loved being with my mother the whole time, even though Aqua really wasn't my mother, she still felt like one to me.

"Patrick." I flinch returning my mind to reality. I didn't realize I zoned out until I heard Mulans voice. I turn to see the soldier girl approaching me. "You all right?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." I face forward. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Mulan asks.

"Nothing important." I say, turning and heading back to the village.

Mulan just stays behind watching me make my leave. We all stayed at the village for a while, resting up. So far, no Shan Yu or heartless showed up. I spent the at the village training Mulan some more in combat. The girl is starting to approve a bit. Hopefully she'll be good enough to survive battle.

We all gather at the entrance towards the summit. "Let's move out!" Shang says, moving on ahead.

Me and Mulan follows the captain and everyone else follows us. We make our way past the Ridge. Very few Heartless attacked us, which is a bit strange. When we're close to the leader, there's always a full army ready to crush us.

After defeating the Heartless, we moved on towards the Summit. We stop right in front of the large snowy mountain. At the top is a shadowy warrior.

"Shan Yu." Shang says, taking his sword out.

I summon my Keyblade, position to fight. What came to surprise is that Shan Yu is not alone. Hundreds of Heartless, Barbarians, sword wielding soldiers wearing fur armor, comes within sight.

"Holy Era." Shang whispered.

"That's a lot of Heartless." I say.

Shan Yu holds out his sword. "Attack!" He orders.

All the Heartless charges down to us all. I take the lead, holding my Keyblade out. "Prepare for battle!"

Shang stands next to me. "If we die! We die with honor!"

I charge right into the army of Heartless. I start attacking them and they fight me back. I cast Halo, wiping out few of the Heartless, knocking close ones away and restoring my health. I enter Star Surge and attacking the Heartless with my twilight strikes. Dozens of the Barbarian's are going down fast.

As I fight, I see Mulan, Shang and the rest of the army fighting off the Heartless. Mulan is struggling to fight but is still standing. I rush to her side and unleash Star Surge, clearing out the Heartless close to her. The Barbarians are swarming. I feel like I'm over-unleashing my strength. I just know when this whole thing is over, I'll probably either cramp up or pass out.

I do Sonic Blade, repeatly sonic blasting through the Heartless crowd five times then unleashed a powerful blast. I enter Critical Impact and strike hard at the Heartless. Half of the Barbarians are gone, but the remaining are still swarming hard. Ten of our soldiers have fallen. Mulan, Shang and I are still standing and fighting.

I unleash Critical Impact, wiping out a ton of Heartless.

In a matter of minutes, we wiped out the entire Heartless army. We stay in place, on our hands and knees panting in exhaustion. Few of us using our weapons for support.

I look up at the top of the hill, Shan Yu is still standing. More Barbarians appeared at the top of the hill. I slightly gasp seeing them.

"Oh Karabast." I say.


	9. Bravery and Honor

**A/N: The battlefield is pretty wild out there facing all of those Heartless. All though things have only gotten worse when that second wave is forming up. Let's see what happens next.**

World: Land of Dragons

* * *

Shan Yu and the Heartless stands on the top of the hill. There are hundreds of Heartless up there. After taking out a full army of Heartless, we don't stand a chance at this wave of attack.

"Yao! Ling! Shen-Po! Use the cannon to take out Shan Yu!" Shang orders.

The trio walks up with some dragon shaped cannon. "We're on it."

Shan Yu holds his sword up, yells and charges down towards us, with his heartless army following from behind. Mulan doesn't like the look at this. She looks down at her sword, noticing the reflect of the snowy mountain. She looks up to see that mountain. She's got an idea.

Mulan takes the cannon and rushes ahead. "Ping! What are you doing?! Stop!" Shang orders.

I chase after Mulan. Mulan stops right in between the two armies and plants the cannon into the snow, then aims it directly at the mountain. I stop right next to the girl.

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask.

"I have an idea." Mulan starts looking around. "I need something to light the cannon."

I look down at Mushu, smirking with an idea. Then I grab the little lizard. "Found one!"

"Wait! No-no-no! I'm not a match! I'm not a-" Mushu becomes interrupted when I pull on him back while holding his front in front of the fuse, causing him to breath out some fire. The fuse ignites and I drop Mushu on the cannon, then the cannon fires.

To my surprise, it's not aiming for the army. "You're going the wrong wa-a-a-ay!" Mushu shouts.

"Uh, I think your aim was a little off." I say, not taking my eyes off the cannon.

The cannon comes out of sight then explodes on the mountain. The mountain crumbles and snow starts falling. "No it wasn't." Mulan says with a brilliant smile. I should have seen this coming: She triggered an avalanche. Mulan quickly gets up and retreats. "I'd run if I were you."

I look back at Mulan, watching her run, then I turn my attention back to the avalanche. I shot my eyes wide open, I really shouldn't be here, then I make a run for it.

The avalanche strikes the Heartless army, and it's making its way to Shan Yu at high speed, until the villain becomes completely buried. The avalanche draws close to us. Mulan and I reaches to the army, Mulan grabs Shangs hand.

"Let's get out of here!" Mulan says. The army just watches Mulan and Shang leaving.

"I'd listen to him if I were you!" I say, running past the army.

The army looks back and sees the Avalanche, then screamed like little girls and makes a run for it. We all reach a save spot by the entrance of the summit and take cover. The avalanche blasts right past us. We all stay in the safe zone until the avalanche dies down.

We all come out, looking at the results. Shan Yu and the Heartless are gone. Shang turns his attention to Mulan. "Ping! That is the most craziest, stupidest thing for a soldier to do!" Mulan seems ashamed, then Shangs heat starts to die down. "But in the end...you saved us all."

All the other soldiers cheers for Mulan, or Ping in their case. They reward Mulan with pats on the back and a couple of ruffles in the head. However, that second part was a mistake cause it causes her hair to go loose. Everyone gasped as they noticed Mulan's true identity.

"You...you're a girl?" Shang asks, shocked. Mulan is nervous hearing that, then feels her head. Her hair is loose instead of in a bun. "You're a women and you dare disguise yourself as a soldier! In my army!"

"Shang. I-I can explain." Mulan says.

"There's no need for explaining. You have brought ultimate dishonor! The penalty for imprisoning a soldier..." Shang takes out his sword. "Is death!"

Mulan gasps hearing that. Two soldiers grabs hold of Mulan, planting her on her knees holding her in place. Shang stands in front of Mulan, looking down at her in anger. Mulan looks up then closes her eyes, facing down to accept her punishment. Shang holds his weapon up high, makes the strike.

Midstrike, someone strikes his sword, causing it to fly out of his hands. Shang and the soldiers are surprised. I'm the one who knocked that weapon right out of his hands. I held my Keyblade up high.

"Wha...what are you doing?" Shang asks.

"I was gonna asking you the same thing." I say. I lower my Keyblade down, glaring at the captain. "She's a women. So what? She's the women who wanted to protect her father, who took out the army, who saved us from the avalanche...saved you. And this is how you're repaying her?" Shang was about to speak, but I hold my Keyblade right in front of his face, earning gasps from the rest of the soldiers. "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the dishonored one here."

The soldiers mutters all around. Shang just stands in place, looking at me eyes squinted. I do the same as a way of telling him I mean it. Shang takes a step back. "Move out." Shang says in a quiet hostile tone, then makes his leave.

The army hesitates, but then they follow their captain, leaving me and Mulan behind. When the army as gone, a fainted scream happens and Mushu crashes into the snow close to Mulan and I. He pops out of the snow, dazed then comes to his senses.

"What did I miss?" He asked.

I walk over to Mulan. "You okay?" I asked.

Mulan looks up at me. "Yeah. I'm...fine." Mulan stands back up. "Thanks for the help back there." There was a moment of silence between the three of us. "What now?"

"Well, I'd say it's time to take you home." I say. "Your family are worried and you'll have to face them sooner or later."

"You may have a point." Mulan says.

Me and Mulan walks back towards the Village. As we do, a hand raises out in the deep snow of the mountains. Shan Yu starts crawling his way out of the snow. When he's out, he looks around, noticing his army as fallen. Shan Yu yells angrily. His screaming echoes throughout the mountains.

Me and Mulan heard the shouting. "Did you hear that?" I ask.

"Yeah." Mulan answers.

The Midnight Flight soars above us, we were startled by the giant Heartless. We keep our attention on the Heartless as it flies towards the summit. The heartless lands beside Shan Yu. Shan Yu looks at the Midnight Flight, then mounts on it.

Me and Mulan are watching everything from above. "Shan Yu...he's alive." Mulan says.

"Impossible. Nobody could have survived an avalanche." I say.

The Midnight Flight spreads its wings and takes off, heading towards the city on the land. "It's heading for the Imperial City!" Mulan says.

"Let's go." I say.

Me and Mulan make our way to the city. Since Shan Yu is going fast on his Heartless we had to mount on Mulan's horse to make it to the city before Shan Yu does.

We both arrived at the Imperial Palace, where a parade is happening. The citizens of China are celebrating the defeat the Shan Yu, or at least they think he's defeated. I can't imagine what'll happen if they find out Shan Yu's alive, and he has a flying heartless monster that's the size of a building.

Me and Mulan found the army, and we hurried over them. "Shang!" Mulan shouts.

Shang turns to see us coming. "Mulan? Patrick?"

"Shang! Shan Yu is alive! He's on his way here!" Mulan says.

"Yeah right! Why should I trust you?" The very ground shakes as the Midnight Flight flies over us above the city. Everyone screams and panics noticing the giant heartless.

I look up at the Heartless pointing at it. "That's why." I say.

Shang is completely surprised at the large heartless. It heads towards the palace. "Guard the palace! Do not let the enemy get to the emperor! That's an order!" Shang shouts.

The army charges towards the palace, Mulan and I follows them. We're right at the courtyard of the palace, heading towards the stairs, until the Midnight Flight lands right in front of us, roaring its foul cold breath at us. Shan Yu laughs as he mounts off and heads towards the stairs.

The emperor is standing at the top of the stairs, for he was waiting to meet the heroes of China, but instead gets kidnapped by Shan Yu and taken into the palace.

"No!" Shang says. Shang takes out his sword, charging at the Midnight Flight.

But then stops when I hold my Keyblade in front of him. "I'll handle this. You and Mulan rescue the emperor." Shang doesn't say anything, just looks at me. I turn my head to face him. "That's an order!"

Shang gives a hesitated nod, then he and Mulan runs past the Midnight Flight heading towards the palace. I look up at the giant Heartless. It's now just it and me.

The Midnight Flight does its frost breath on me, opening its mouth charging up frost energy. I strike at the Heartless then do Strike Raid. Frost Breath is unleashed, blasting a large beam of frost in front of the caster. I was able to avoid the blast before it hit me. When it's gone, I resume attacking until I enter Critical Impact.

The Midnight Flight takes flight, raises from the ground and raises high into the sky. The Heartless is too high. It's even higher then the starting point of my Thunder spell.

I run to one of the towers at the corner of the palace walls, start running up the walls. I run up until I'm above the Heartless's level. At the end of my path, I jump off, back flipping towards the Midnight Flight. I hold out my Keyblade down below as I dive hard on the heartless's back, knocking it down.

The Midnight Flight falls to the ground and I continue to attack it. I strike hard with brute force, then do Blitz. The Midnight Flight regains conscious and raises from the ground, only a few feet. I reach my full power and unleash Critical Impact.

Inside the palace, Shan Yu is alone with the Emperor. Shan Yu holds out his sword by the emperors neck. "Now you'll bow to me!" He demands. The emperor doesn't obey, Shan Yu only gets angry. "Your arrogance vexes me!"

Shang rushes in and tackles Shan Yu, knocking the warrior down. Mulan comes right in. "Mulan! Get the emperor!"

Mulan doesn't question it, she grabs the Emperor and hurries out. "No!" Shan Yu yells. Shang moves over to Shan Yu as he gets up. Shang strikes, but Shan Yu dodges and jabs Shang hard in the stomach, then he chases after Mulan.

I continue my fight against the Midnight Flight. The Midnight Flight does it's Shadow Gleam. I strike hard at the Heartless as the glowing beams flows around and hits me. I cast Cure to heal myself then continue striking. The Midnight Flight slash its claws at me.

I take out the Lightning Charm and activated the D-Link. I strike at the Heartless with my dual Keyblades. The Midnight Flight starts up it's Glacier attack. Flows to the center of the courtyard. I do Thunderfall, my Keyblades spinning around me by their own will, moving upwards as lightning strikes down at the Midnight Flight.

The Midnight Flight lands on the ground, digging its claws into the ground. Quakes appear all over the courtyard, and the Midnight Flight unleashed razor sharp icicles right out of them.

I cast Thundara at the Midnight Flight, then I do Etro's Champion, striking a ten-combo hit with light energy at the Midnight Flight, with white feathers dancing with my movement at each strike I make. As for a finishing strike, I hold my Keyblads over my shoulders and deliver a heavy X strike. The Midnight Flight does Dark Blizzaga, shooting six purple crystal ice at me in different directions. I strike hard at the Midnight Flight then do Lightning Strike.

The Midnight Flight roars angrily. It's clearly not happy. The Midnight Flight soars high in the air. I again run up one of the towers and jump high towards the Midnight Flight, then I dive strike it, knocking it out. I attack the Midnight Flight as it's knocked out. Then I reach my full power and unleash Zantetsuken.

"The storm is here!" I shout as I begin the Zantetsuken. After preforming the powerful move, my link with Lightning ends and I resume attacking the Midnight Flight until it's defeated.

The giant Heartless roars in pain then it's body collapses. Light glows from it's Heartless brand on its body and a giant heart escapes, then the Midnight Flight vanishes.

I take a moment to rest, then I turn to the palace. All the way from the courtyard, I can see what's happening up on the roof.

Mulan takes the emperor to the roof top. "I think we're safe up here." She says. But she's wrong. Shan Yu bursts through the roof, right behind Mulan and the emperor. Mulan pulls the emperor behind her, drawing her sword out, ready to strike.

Shan Yu laughs. "Your bodyguard is a girl?" Shan Yu laughs loudly, Mulan is offended. "Oh, this will be fun."

Shan Yu charges at Mulan, yelling. Mulan defends herself and the Emperor. Both hers and Shan Yu's weapons clash. Shan Yu pushes Mulan hard. Mulan stands her ground, resisting his strength.

"Do you really think you can defeat me?" Shan Yu asks.

"I was counting on it." Mulan says. Mulan sweep kicks Shan Yu by the feet, knocking him down. "Mushu! Now!"

Mushu is at the one end of the roof, with a large rocket. Mulan grabs the Emperor and gets off the roof. Mushu lights the fuse and the rocket blasts off. Shan Yu gets up, but is too late. The rocket hits him and explodes.

The battle is over.

When everything was settled, all of the citizens gathered in the courtyard of the palace. Me, Mulan, Yao, Ling and Chen-Po stand on the stairs of the palace. The emperor stands at the top of the stairs with Shang.

Mulan walks to the top of the stairs, then kneels down in front of the Emperor. "I've heard of a great deal about you, Fa Mulan." The emperor says. Mulan looks down in shame. "You stoled your fathers armor, ran away from home, impersonated an imperial solder. You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army and dishonored your family name."

"Get to the point, already!" I say, earning looks from the soldiers behind me. I turn facing them. "What? What did I say?"

The emperor continues. "You're a young women, and in the end, you have saved us all." The emperor bows before Mulan. Mulan looks up and is surprised to see the Emperor bowing before her. We all turn to see and hear the rest of the citizens bowing down.

"Whoa. Someone's a bit hit." I say.

Mulan turns, and the Emperor hands her Shan Yu's sword. "Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China."

Mulan bows. "Thank you, your excellency."

When the celebration was done, I take Mulan back to her home. Her family were so glad to have her back, alive and well. They were even more surprised to see her wielding Shan Yu's sword. The reunion lasted for a couple of hours. In the end, I'm departing.

"So you're really leaving?" Fa Li asks.

"I'm afraid so." I turn facing at the distant mountains. "My friend is still there somewhere, and I have to keep looking for her."

"Well, you're welcome here anytime." Grandma Fa says.

"Maybe if you find your friend, you two can come visit." Fa Zhuo says.

I smile a little. "I'd like that."

Mulan walks up to me, handing me an object. "Here. This is for helping me out. Thank for you everything."

The object Mulan gives me is a Mushu Charm for my D-linking. "You are welcome." I say. "Well, I'd better get going. See yea."

I make my leave, continuing my journey in search for Aqua.


	10. Notre Dame

**A/N: Land of Dragons is quite the adventure isn't it? At least I didn't tempted to do something dark unlike what I did back at the Coliseum. We now move on to the next world, where I still continue my journey to find Aqua.**

World: La Cite Des Cloches

* * *

I moved on to the next world. There's no luck on finding a way to bring Aqua back from the realm of the dark. I arrived at a new world, one I haven't seen in my travels. I'm guessing this world was one of the sleeping worlds that Sora and Riku awaken during their Mark of Mastery exam.

I ride on a riverboat in the city river, standing at the head of the boat while a man from the other end is rowing the paddles to move the boat. As I ride the river, I look at the buildings on the city above, listening to the echoing sounds of the city bells.

"You are very brave to come here during our dark time." I turn my head, barely facing the strange rower. "Judge Claude Frollo is hunting gypsies in this city. He seeks to cleanse this city from every single one of them."

"Humph." I face forward again. "I'll take my chances."

"It's your funeral, my friend." The rower says. "Just know Frollo will stop at nothing to get what he desires. I bring hundreds of Gypsies here to Paris. None of them were ever seen again."

The boat arrives at the small dock at the side of the river, and I get off.

"If you do seek sanctuary, head for Notre Dame." The rower says. "Good luck." The rower makes his leave on the river. I walk up the stairs, arriving at the city streets.

La Cite Des Cloches seems like a peaceful world. A city of light I might even say. But with this Frollo character around, I'm guessing this city will have darkness within it. Maybe the darkness that'll lead me towards Aqua. I can only have hope.

I walk around the city, there are hardly much citizens around here. It's almost like the city is abandoned. Captain Phoebus walks down the streets, in the opposite direction as I am. We soon pass each other, Phoebus stops and turns around.

"Hey, you!" I stop and turn to face him. "You new around here?"

"Yes." I say.

"Are you here to attend the festival?" Phoebus asks.

"Festival?" I ask.

"Yeah. The Festival of Fools. It's happening outside of Notre Dame." Phoebus points at the route for me to take.

"Sounds nice...but I'm actually looking for someone." I say.

"Well, everyone's gathered for the festival. Maybe you'll find the person you're looking for there." Phoebus says.

"All right, I guess I'll take a look." I say, taking the route towards Notre Dame.

As I wonder around the city area, Unversed starts spawning. I'm surprised. What are the Unversed doing here? I don't question it, I start attacking them. First, I gathered them with Magnet then do Shimmer Sweep. After defeating the Unversed, my Keyblade vanishes.

"What are the Unversed doing here?" I ask.

I continue my way down the city until I arrive at the Cathedral Courtyard. The festival goes on. All of the citizens are cheering, thousands of confetti are taking the skies. I can barely see anything up ahead. Few of the confetti have cleared. In the center of the courtyard, there's a hideous creature standing on the stage, dressed like a king.

Quasimodo is having the time of his life. However, Frollo isn't too pleased to see Quasimodo getting involved in a gypsy festival. The confetti clears, then I start to see Quasimodo being surrounded by the Unversed. Jokers: Circus freak creatures that look like clowns and their stance is standing balanced on a ball with one foot.

The Jokers starts attacking Quasimodo. Quasimodo isn't really enjoying this. He doesn't have the will to fight back. Quasimodo calls out for his 'master' for help, but Frollo doesn't answer. Just sits back and watches the show.

I've had about enough of this. I jump right into the stage and wipe out the Unversed in one single swing with my Keyblade. Quasimodo lays on the stage, messed up...even more then he normally is.

Quasimodo looks up at me in worry. I'm not really being mean or giving him a hostile look of any kind. I'm guess he's a shy one. Just then, a young beautiful women, Esmeralda, walks on stage, appoaching Quasimodo. The young lady shows him some kindness.

Frollo stands up from his chair. "Get down from there this instant, gypsy witch!" He demands.

I glare at him. Esmeralda turns her attention to him as well. "No! How can you just stand there want watch this poor man suffer up here?" She asks.

"You're a fool to interfere in a lesson for him to learn. Seize her!" Frollo orders.

Dozens of city guards surrounds the stage. Esmeralda is on alert. I stand in front of her, holding my Keyblade out. "I've got this."

Esmeralda makes a run for it as I take on the guards. The guards aren't much of a challenge, but I don't bother to go easy on them. I use the Mushu Charm to activate my D-link. My body surges in flames and so does my Keyblade. I strike at the guards with my burning attacks, then cast Firaga Burst, summon a large ball of fire, shoot it in the air and it fires hundreds of bolts of fire on the ground.

Two guards fallen from the Firaga Burst. The rest attacks me head on. I guard most of their attacks, then I do Fire Surge, charging at them with flames spinning around me. I continue attacking then cast Fira. Three more guards fall, the rest still attack me. I use Cure to heal myself then I continue striking until four guards remain.

I reach my full power and unleashed Guardian Flare. A large amount of fire energy at the tip of my Keyblade. I spin my Keyblade around me, hold it above my head, then I slam my weapon on the ground in front of me, unleashing a large and powerful wave of fire at a 90 degree angle in front of me, finishing off those guards.

When I'm finish battling them, nothing else happens. I let my guard down. All the citizens moves on with their normal lives. I turn to see Frollo is entering Notre Dame.

"What is he up to?" I ask myself, heading towards the cathedral.

When I enter, I find Frollo talking to that gypsy girl. What are they talking about. Doesn't seem like a friendly conversation since Frollo threatens the girl with a candle pole by her neck, and Esmeralda doesn't looks to friendly either. I just stand by the church doors, watching until Frollo turns and walks off, heading towards my destination. I start walking ahead as well.

Me and Frollo cross paths, glancing at each other as we pass each other. I feel a dark presence within this old man. Frollo leaves Notre Dame. I face forward once he's gone, to see Esmeralda looking depressed in the middle of the Cathedral, in the light that shines through the memorial glass window.

"That was too close back there." I say. Esmeralda looks up startled, then relaxes to see me.

"Yeah...thanks for the save back there, and for helping that man. It's good to see I'm not the only one who still cares for the people."

I cross my arms. "What's with tormenting that man anyhow? He doesn't seem dangerous...Monstrous maybe, but not dangerous."

"I don't know. But if anyone here is a monster, it's Frollo." Esmeralda says. "He hunts us Gypsies cause he thinks we're thieves and liars."

"Yeah. I'm aware of Frollo. I was warned about him when I first arrived at this city." I say.

Esmeralda holds a hand out. "I'm Esmeralda."

I shake Esmeralda's hand. "Patrick." After shaking hands, I take a look around at the Cathedral. "So...this is Notre Dame. She's quite a sight."

"Yeah. It's a place of sanctuary, but not freedom." Esmeralda says.

I turn to her confused. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Frollo is using this church as my prison. Cause I claim sanctuary, he can't harm me. He now has guards posted all over Notre Dame. If I leave, I'm his."

"That's gotta stink." I say. "There must be someway to sneak out of here."

I take a look around Notre Dame. I found a small spiral stair case that goes up. Me and Esmeralda take the stairs, which leads us to the roof courtyard of the cathedral. I walk to the railing of the courtyard and look down, to see hundreds of guards guarding Notre Dame. And that's just the courtyard entrance.

"Wow. Guess Frollo's not bluffing about the guards." I say.

"He can't keep me in here forever." Esmeralda says.

I turn around to think of a plan. Just then, I saw something from the bell tower entrance. It was dark, but I saw it was a man.

"Hey!" I rush into the bell tower as what I saw disappeared into the darkness. "Wait!" Esmeralda follows me.

We both arrive at the Bell Tower. As soon as we did, it's empty. I know I saw someone in here. I take a look around, quiet, but careful. Esmeralda follows me from behind, but is unsure about this.

We climb up the ladders and arrive at some small area that looks to be fit for a home. "I know you're in here. Come out." I say.

"We're not going to hurt you." Esmeralda says.

I turn to her. "Actually, I was planning to attack if it was threatening." Esmeralda gives me a disappointed look. "Fine. We won't harm you."

That might have helped. In the shadows, Quasimodo slowly comes out of it. Into the light, we're both surprised to see him.

"Hey, you're that...guy from the festival." I say.

Quasimodo looks worried, he slowly backs away. "I'm sorry for what happened back there." Esmeralda says kindly. "Are you all right?"

"I-I'm...fine." Quasimodo says, looking away. "Why do you care?"

"Why do you ask?" I say.

Quasimodo shows his face to us. "Look at me. I'm ugly. Deformed. My master Frollo always told me I'm a monster. No one cared for me, not even my own mother."

Hearing the mother part made me feel sad on the inside. "Frollo is wrong. He doesn't care about anything but justice." Esmeralda says.

"But he is right about my...hideous appearance." Quasimodo says.

I take a step forward. "You may look like a monster on the outside, but are you really a monster on the inside?" Quasimodo doesn't say anything. "Mind telling us your name?

Quasimodo looks at me. "I'm...Quasimodo."

"Patrick." I turn to Esmeralda. "And this is Esmeralda."

Esmeralda and Quasimodo spent time together, talking. I just stand back and watch the two. They've got along just fine. That's wither fast for meeting each other for the first time in only about for an hour. At dusk, Esmeralda now seeks for an exit. Quasimodo takes out to a blind area of the Cathedral Courtyard on the roof. He suggests climbing down. Me and Esmeralda looks down.

"Are you sure about this?" Esmeralda says.

"It's fine. As long as you don't look down." Quasimodo says.

"Yeah..." I back up from the railing. "Since I'm not wanted or I'm not suppose to hide from the public, I think I'll take the stairs. So, good luck, you two."

Quasimodo carries Esmeralda and starts hoping and climbing down Notre Dame. I'll admit, he's really good at this. He's like a spider monkey.

After a while, Esmeralda makes her escape in the shadows. Quasimodo climbs back up the church. I just stand there, arms crossed looking at Quasimodo.

"I must say, that was impressive." I say.

"Well, thank you. Years of practice I guess." Quasimodo says.

"You've snuck out of this church for years?" I ask.

"No, not really. Today was the first time I've ever snuck out." Quasimodo says.

"I see...Hey Quasimodo, you've spent your whole life in that Bell Tower have yea?" Quasimodo nods. "Well, if you wanted to leave so bad, why didn't you in the first place?"

Quasimodo looks down with little worry. "Because my master Frollo forbids me from leaving. He told me the world is dark and cruel. No one would even care for a monster like me."

"Looks can be deceiving, Quasimodo. It's usually the heart that matters." I turn to the view out of the Cathedral. "It's true the world is dark, but that doesn't mean it's total darkness. There will always be light within the dark.

Quasimodo looks at me, manages a small smile. "Yeah...maybe you're right."

I give a slow nod. "Well, I should get going." I start walking away, waving back at Quasimodo when I turn to my back. "Nice meeting you."

I make my leave from the Cathedral. As I walk down the stairs, I start to think about Quasimodo. In a way, we are alike, only he has his memories and the person who raised and looks after him is really an old man who seems to be causing trouble to people like Esmeralda. Where as I have no memories of the first five years of my life and I was raised and cared by a kind beautiful women, at least up to the first year of my new life and then I lost her along her friends.

I wonder if Quasimodo's mother really did desert him. If Frollo told him, I wonder if that's really an exaggeration.

As I leave Notre Dame by the front entrance. "Get her!" I'm startled as I'm being dog piled by dozens of guards. After about fifteen of them, the rest stopped and look down at me. "That's not the gypsy girl."

"Yeah, I am. I just left behind my wig, make up, dress and my voice dropped to a deep scale." I say in irritated sarcasm. "Get off of me!" The guards gets off of me, then I stand back on my feet, wiping the dirt off of my outfit. "Thank you."

The guards resume to their positions and I make my leave. I reach to the one end of the courtyard, then I stopped and look back at Notre Dame. The cathedral is a sanctuary of light, but I wonder if it's good enough to hold back Frollo's dark desires. Sending guards at every point of the cathedral. I have a bad feeling he's gonna do something dark to the church. Not even sanctuary will be enough to stop him.

"Excuse me." I turn to see Captain Phoebus coming towards me. "Have you seen a gypsy girl?"

I look hostile. "Maybe." I summon my Keyblade and hold it out, aimed directly at him. Phoebus seems nervous seeing my weapon inches from his neck. "What's it to you?"

Phoebus holds his hands out in front of him. "Whoa, whoa. Take it easy there. I just want to know if she's okay." I don't believe him, I keep on glaring at him. "Listen, I don't want to hurt her. I know she's not as evil as Frollo claims her and the other gypsies to be."

I hesitated, but then I lower my weapon. I turn my attention to Notre Dame. "Why is it that Frollo despise these gypsies?"

"He believes they are witches, that they bring darkness to the city." Phoebus says. "I'll be honest, I think Frollo's ideals for justice is corrupted. I was suppose to be in the front lines of the war but he calls me back just to help him take care of the gypsies."

I turn to look at Phoebus. "Then why did you obey orders?"

"I'm suppose to. I'm captain of the guards." Phoebus says.

"If you ask me, I think you should know that doing the right thing is better then following orders." I say. Phoebus doesn't say anything. I turn and then start walking away. "Think about that when you follow Frollo's orders."

I leave the Cathedral Courtyard, leaving Phoebus behind. Phoebus just thinks about what I said, wondering if taking orders from Frollo really is the right thing.


	11. Consumed Darkness

**A/N: Notre Dame wasn't much of a chapter, though it does show some heart wouldn't you say? Things are about to get good once the city becomes coated in the darkness of Frollos Justice.**

World: La Cite Des Cloches

* * *

I have spent the night in La Cite Des Cloches. I haven't heard from Esmeralda since that night when she was trapped in the Cathedral. All though there is bad news. Frollo and the guards are aware of her disappearance. I feel on alert with that.

On the next day, Frollo raided the city, hunting all the gypsies that are in hiding and harming the innocent, all for the location of Esmeralda. Why is he so fixated with her? I keep a close eye on Frollos armies. I noticed that Captain Phoebus is in that army.

What I see is that he is starting to have regret and doubts with every group of citizens or gypsies Frollo's attacked. We're now at the Windmill area. Phoebus is standing outside while Frollo is inside the house. I stand a few feet away from him.

Frollo is talking to the family that they are in trouble for being accused of hoarding gypsies, but they claim to be innocent. Frollo leaves the house and locks them all in, then turns his attention to Phoebus.

"Burn it!" Frollo orders.

Phoebus is surprised to hear that. "What?!" Frollo hands Phoebus a torch. "B-but sir. I was not trained to murder the innocent."

"But you are trained to follow orders!" Frollo says. "Now! Burn it!"

Phoebus doesn't say anything. He does look directly at me. I just give a serious look then a single nod. Phoebus nods back. He slowly moves towards the house, looking at Frollo. He's in front of the house, raising the torch to burn the house, but instead dumps it into a barrel of water.

"Insignificant fool!" Frollo snaps his fingers.

Dawns and Jokers appears out of nowhere, surrounding Frollo and Phoebus. Both Phoebus and I are surprised by this. I jump right in, slaying two Unversed as I get in the circle with Frollo and Phoebus.

"The Unversed comes from you?" I ask.

Frollo smirks and chuckles. "That is correct."

"Frollo. Why would you work with these demons?" Phoebus asks.

"Oh, you are mistaken Phoebus. These aren't demons. They are righteous judgment. I have been granted this power so that I may smite gypsies now and forever!" Frollo turns his attention to me. "Starting with you."

"This is all wrong!" Phoebus says.

"There is no right or wrong. There is only justice and judgement." Frollo says.

The Dawn and Jokers attacks. I fight them back, gathering them with Magnet then do Barrage, striking twice at the Unversed then jump back and throw my Keyblade at them midair. Half of the Unversed at defeated, and that Barrage causes me to enter Fever Pitch. I strike quickly then cast Dusra (Level two Dusk)

The Dawns block my next few attacks and the Jokers strikes at me. I cast Halo, destroying few of the Unversed and restoring my health, then I reach my full power and unleash Fever Pitch, finishing the Unversed.

Now it's just Phoebus, Frollo and I. Me and Phoebus stand, holding out weapons out facing Frollo. "Give up, Frollo. You're defenseless."

Frollo chuckles. "You are mistaken. I am never defenseless." A giant Unversed, Wargoyle, lands right behind Frollo. (**A/N: Yes, I'm aware Wargoyle is a Dream Eater but this is the real world and not a dream**) "With this power, I shall finally find the Court of Miracles and bring an end to Gypsies once and for all!"

"Court of Miracles?" I ask, confused.

Frollo gets on the Wargoyle and the Unversed flies away. "I've heard of the Court of Miracles. They say it's a haven for Gypsies." Phoebus turns to me. "Esmeralda's probably in it. We've got to warn her."

"Quasimodo might know something about her location. Let's ask him." Me and Phoebus runs down the road, hurrying to Notre Dame.

The path to Notre Dame was long and hard, since we had to face some Unversed on the way. Frollo is having the city crawling with them. Me and Phoebus fight off the Unversed, of course I do most of the fighting since I have the magic and abilities. And that was only the road, when we made it past the bridge, there are stronger Unversed. Frollo is really trying to stop us from intruding on his plans.

We've finally made it to Notre Dame. It was exhausting for me since I did most of the fighting with the Unversed. Me and Phoebus approach to the church doors, only as soon as we did, it's opening up.

Quasimodo sticks his head out, then finds us. "Quasimodo? What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I was gonna go visit Esmeralda." Quasimodo says as he comes out of Notre Dame.

"Really? Cause we need to warn her." Phoebus says. "Frollo is on search for the Court of Miracles. He has those...those strange creatures working for him."

"Unversed." I say to Phoebus. "Anyways, if Frollo is searching for the court, then Esmeralda and her friends are in danger. We're here cause we thought you might know something about Esmeralda's location."

"Sorry, I don't really know." Quasimodo reaches into his pocket, taking out some woven pendant. "All she did was gave me this, and then said that this would help us find her."

We all look close at the pendant. "How could it find her?" Phoebus asks.

"Maybe it's a clue or something." I say.

Quasimodo takes a close look at the pendant. "'When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand'." Quasimodo says, earning confused looks from me and Phoebus. Quasimodo gets an idea. "It's the city! It's a map! See?"

I take a close look. "Doesn't look anything like a map." Phoebus says doubtfully.

I take the pendant. "No...I think he's on to something." I point to the cross on the pendant. "This looks like the church." Then I point to the blue line surrounding the cross. "This I believe could be the river. If I'm correct..." I point to the marking outside of the river. "This must be the Court of Miracles."

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Quasimodo says.

Phoebus decided to tag along, since it's two against one that the pendant is a map.

The three of us leaves the city. Luckily, the Unversed have yet to respawn. Even the outskirts are empty.

Night time falls, and we arrived at the old graveyard, where the pendant said the entrance to the court is at. We found an old tomb that bares the symbol of the court of miracles on the pendant.

"This must be it." Phoebus says. "The mark might lead us to the next clue."

I take a moment to think. "I might have an idea." I lift and slide the stone door on the large tomb, revealing a hidden case of stairs.

"Whoa. How did you know?" Quasimodo asks.

"Oldest trick in the book." I say. "The gypsies probably thought that Frollo would see this hidden entrance to be so predictable, they wouldn't dare to do it." We all looked down into the dark entrance.

"So...who's going first?" Quasimodo asks, then he and I both said 'Not it' at the same time.

We look at Phoebus, who looks at me then Quasimodo constantly, then groans in disappointed. He's going in first. We entered the catacombs. Because it's in total darkness, Phoebus had to take a torch that's hanging from a nearby wall. I stand right behind Phoebus, with my Keyblade out. There are no Unversed in sight, but there could be traps or set ups.

We keep on moving within the catacombs. "No sign of Frollo or those creatures." Phoebus says.

"Let us hurry then. They can't be far from getting here." I say.

"I just hope I can get back to the bell tower before Frollo finds out my disappearance." Quasimodo says.

The catacombs are like a maze down here. We had a difficult time finding the Court of Miracles down here. If the hidden entrance doesn't fool Frollo, then hopefully the large maze will stop him from discovering the Court of Miracles. Or at the very least stall Frollo long enough to get everyone out.

We finally found the Court of Miracles. The place is completely packed, filled with gypsies. We make our way through the crowd to find Esmeralda. Soon enough, we have found her.

"Esmeralda!" Esmeralda turns to see the three of us.

"Quasimodo? Patrick? What are you doing here?" Esmeralda asks.

"We're here to warn you. Frollo's in search for the Court of Miracles!" Quasimodo says.

"He's on his way. He has Unversed on his side swarming around the lands." I say. "We need to get everyone out of here before Frollo comes."

"You're too late." To our worries, we all turn to see it's Frollo. He stands by the exit of the Court of Miracles, with the Unversed charging in, attacking the gypsies. The gypsies runs in terror. Me and Phoebus fights off the Unversed to help them out, but their numbers are infinite.

In a matter of minutes, the Court of Miracles becomes clear of Gypsies. Me, Phoebus, Quasimodo and Esmeralda becomes surrounded by countless Dawns and Jokers and Floods. Frollo walks past the Unversed, approaching us.

"At long last, the Court of Miracles is mine!" Frollo says with an evil smirk.

"You are a fool, Frollo." I say.

"Oh, you are sadly mistaken, Gypsy." Frollo becomes coated in darkness. "I have won. Take them to Notre Dame."

The Unversed grabs Quasimodo, Esmerald and Phoebus and pulls them away. "No! Stop!" I chase after them, but the Dawns blocks my way.

"Oh, I'm aware of your power, my friend." I turn to Frollo. "Which is way I have a better way to smite you." Frollo snaps his fingers. A loud roar echoes through the tunnels, and the Wargoyle flies right in and lands behind Frollo. "I hope you'll live long enough to catch the bonefire outside of the cathedral. I wouldn't want a single gypsy to miss it."

Frollo walks away. I just watch him walk off until he's out of sight, then I'm felt alone to face the Wargoyle.

The Wargoyle makes the first strike with Fire Punch, comes at me and strikes with its burning fist. I block the attack with my Keyblade, then I cast Blizzard. This creature staggered back, it appears to be sensitive against ice attacks. I start attacking it.

The Wargoyle does Burning Whip, which does an angle attack with its flaming tail. The Wargoyle repeatly does Fire Punch. I spent most of the time dodge and avoiding the attacks. I got hit twice by the Fire Punch. I cast Dusra then Halo and I enter Star Surge.

The Wargoyle does Hell's Sweep, spinning at high speed with arms wipe open, coated in flames. I move out of the way, until the Wargoyle gets dizzy and collapses. I rush towards the Unversed and attacked it with twilight energy. In matter of seconds, the Wargoyle gets back on its feet. I keep on attacking the Unversed, as it fights back with Fire Punches and a Burning Whip.

I cast Blizzard, which staggers it, then I reach my full power and unleash Star Surge. The Wargoyle weakens, then starts to unleash it's power. It does Meteor Flare, with heavily punches the ground unleashing giant fire bombs from the sky in front of it. I start to weaken then heal myself with Cure.

After using Meteor Flare about three times, it does Flaming Wings. Spreads its wings out on fire and does a single flap, launching large fires in the form of wings at me.

The Wargoyle collapses in exhaustion. I continue attacking the Wargoyle. First I did Strike Raid then I do Sonic Blade. The Wargoyle comes to before I made my final blast. The Wargoyle does Burning Whip. I dodged out of it then cast Blizzard. The Wargoyle staggers and I attack it.

The Wargoyle roars in agony, then it's body collapses then fades. I have defeated it.

I stand in place, staring at where the Wargoyle use to be, panting. After a moment, I give a relief sigh. "Well, you certain have approved."

I gasp and flinched hearing that voice. I recognize that voice, but I'm worried to find out if it's really him. I turn around, and it is him. I haven't seen him since he destroyed the Land of Departure, and then returned ten years ago when he attacked Radiant Garden and made it into Hollow Bastion. A dark man with yellow eyes, short silver hair, bagging pants and a tunic. It's Xehanort in Terra's body. "You!" I position myself to attack. "You're that monster that took away my home and friends!"

Terranort chuckles evilly. I just stand there with an angry look, just waiting for him to make a move, which he doesn't. "Are you sure it was me who destroyed your home? Your people?"

"Yeah! Last time I checked, you took control of Terra, put Ven into a eternal slumber and dragged Aqua into the darkness. Let's not forget you attacked the Land of Departure!" I say.

"Man. You are completely clueless, aren't you?" Terranort asks.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

Terranort stands up, slowly walking towards me. "Are you sure you don't remember anything?" Terranort slowly walks in circles around me. "The visions? The power you hold...And what about the Shadowmoon? Does the name...Rasputin...ring a bell?"

I glare at Terranort. "What you have to say means nothing to me. I know you're just trying to mess with me, just like you've done with Terra!" I hold my Keyblade now. "Now release him, Xehanort! Or I'll take you both down."

Terranort humped. "I see how it is." A dark portal appears, and Terranort slowly walks backwards to it. "But be warned: The Shadowmoon is always watching."

Terranort disappears into the portal. I just stand there, confused. "The Shadow...moon?" I widen my eyes open, slightly gasped and turn to the exit, as I realized something. "The bonefire!" Then I make hurry towards Notre Dame.

As I make my way through the catacombs, the bonefire is already happening. Esmeralda is tied to a pole on stage in front of the church, surrounded by burning hay. The young girl is being burned alive. Frollo stands aside, enjoying the show. However, it soon goes down hall.

Quasimodo jumps out of the Cathedral with a rope, swings towards the stage. He lands on the stage to untie Esmeralda. Frollo is disappointed to be seeing this. Quasimodo carries the unconscious gypsy and swings and climbs back on the roof courtyard of Notre Dame. At the edge, he lifts Esmeralda in the air shouting.

"SANCTUARY!"

But that doesn't stop Frollo.

Meanwhile, I arrive at the bridge. The skies are burning red and there's smoking coming out of the city, were I assume is where Notre Dame is at.

The Unversed are guarding the city now. I guess Frollo's aware that I would survive the Wargoyle battle. I fight my way through the Unversed, quickly. Every second I waste fighting in the city is another I've lost at Esmeralda's demise at Notre Dame.

I finally reached Notre Dame. The area is burning with flames. Phoebus and a few guards and citizens are surrounded by the Unversed right in the steps of Notre Dame. I rush in, standing right next to Phoebus ready to strike.

"Where's Frollo?" I ask.

"He's in Notre Dame. He's going after Esmeralda and Quasimodo." Phoebus says. "We'll handle things down here. Help Quasimodo and Esmeralda."

I nod, he's right. I hurried inside Notre Dame, taking the spiral stair case at high speed. I make it to the courtyard top of the Cathedral. Frollo stands by the railing with his sword. Frollo is attacking Quasimodo and Esmeralda, who are dangling by the railing.

Froll laughs evilly as he holds his sword back. I rush in, grab Frollo and pull him back. "You again?" Frollo gets back on his feet, positioned to strike. "You just don't know how to die, do you?"

I charge at Frollo, make my strike and our weapons clash. "You call yourself a righteous man, Frollo. But you are a monster!" I pull Frollos back. "You've burned this city! Raged war upon the house of God! And all for what? To hurt the innocent!"

Frollo parries my attacks. "There is nothing innocent about gypsies!" Frollo kicks me hard in the stomach, knocking me back.

Frollo turns to see Quasimodo climbing back up. Esmeralda lays on the floor. Frollo stands in front of Quasimodo. "I should have known you'd risk your life to save this gypsy witch. Just as your own mother died in her pitful attempted to save you."

Quasimodo and I are shocked to hear this. "What?" Quasimodo says.

"You said she abandoned him!" I shout. "You lied!"

Frollo looks back down at me. "Precisely." Frollo looks back at Quasimodo. "And now, I'm going to do what I should have done twenty years ago!"

Frollo strikes. Quasimodo barely avoided the strike, only causes him to be knocked out and fall. Frollos attack also causes him to fall forward and land on a statue of a beasts head. Esmeralda quickly grabs Quasimodo before he falls.

Frollo gets on his feet, laughing manically as he holds his sword high at Esmeralda. "And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!" Frollo holds his sword over his head. "Forever!"

I get on my feet, rush to the railing. "NO!" I make a single swing of my Keyblade at Frollo. Frollo gasps and falls, but manages to grab hold of the statue.

The statue starts to break off. Frollo looks at the statues face. To his eyes, the statue comes to live, growling deeply with its insides burning, glaring at him with devils eyes. Frollo gasps horrified then the statue breaks off. Frollo screams as he falls to his death, into the depths of Hell.

Esmeralda struggles to hold on to Quasimodo. He starts slipping out of her hands. "Quasimodo! No!" Quasimodo falls. Me and Esmeralda looks down reaching for him.

"Quasi!" I shout.

Quasimodo falls into the fires, but Phoebus makes to catch it halfway through the fall. Phoebus falls forward a little, but he kept his feet on the ground. Phoebus looks up at us. "I got him!" Esmeralda and I sigh in relief.

For a while, we settle things down at the city. The fires die down, the citizens relax and have been freed. We even repaired the damages at Notre Dame that Frollo caused. Quasimodo even had the courage to go out in public without the fear of everyone being scared of his hideous appearance. In the end, I'm in front of the Cathedral with Phoebus, Quasimodo and Esmeralda.

"Thank you for everything. With Frollo gone, we now have our peace. Our freedom. Our light." Esmeralda says.

"It's a pleasure, Esmeralda." I say. "I should get going."

Quasimodo walks up to me. "Please, have this." Quasimodo hands me a Quasimodo Charm for my D-linking. "I've had this ever since I was a baby, but I want you to have it. Thank you for showing me that there's nothing to be afraid of."

I pocket the charm. "Thanks."

"Good luck finding your friend." Phoebus says.

I nod then make my leave, moving on to the next world.


	12. The Shadowmoon

**A/N: I have visited three worlds since the beginning of my journey. I think it's time to return to the main plot of the story. Here, I travel through the World where I learn a discovery of the clan known as "The Shadowmoon".**

Worlds: The World That Never Was/Disney Town/Radiant Garden

* * *

I ride on my Hoverbike through the World, in the realm of light and darkness. I still continue my search for Aqua. Where could she be? Still trapped in the darkness I assume. Is there a way to break her out of it, I still wonder.

I start to get this strange feeling to visit a dark world. I change directions on my Hoverbike and started heading towards the Organization's world: The World That Never Was.

I arrive in this dark world in the Ally. I park my Hoverbike and mount off. I move out of the ally and into plain sight, looking at the dark city just below the Organization XIII's stronghold. I just stare at the large view, arms crossed.

"Why did I come here?" I ask myself. I remember coming here cause I had a feeling I should, but now I don't know what it was or why.

I look at the path ahead of me and gasped. On the other end of the path, there's a woman. I could hardly make her out cause she has her back turned on me and cause of distance. But she has blue hair and her outfit is nearly identical to Aqua's.

"It...it is really..." I stand in place, trying to take it in. Just then, I see Aqua turn and walk out of sight. I chase after her. "Wait!" I run a few feet ahead, but stopped as Dusk and Berserkers appeared right in front of me. "Nobodies!?" I summon my Keyblade, positioned to fight. "Out of my way!"

I attack the Nobodies. The Dusks weave around as I focus on the Berserkers, since I'm well aware they're powerful. I gather them with Magnet then do Aerial Sweep, jumping while spinning my Keyblade at them. While they're still gathered by the Magnet, I run back and cast Ruinra. At least, I cast three ruin spells, half the size and power of the regular Ruin, and they launch at the Nobodies in a triangle form (Not linked, just as the edges) and spinning as they go.

When Magnet was done, only three Dusks remain. The Dusks attacked me. I didn't suffer much damage, but I did enter Critical Impact and finish them off with my brutal attacks. When I was done playing with the Nobodies, I continue on ahead.

The Aqua I saw, I'm sure it was just a trick or an illusion. But I had to make sure. After all, Aqua was like a mother to me. She's the closest person I could ever have for a family, and when I was six, she was taken away. All these years I thought she was die, but then I recently learned she's still alive...just barely. Even if I'm walking into a trap, I just got to know.

As I chase after the Aqua, Nobodies appear in my path. I fight them off, since I'm in Critical Impact, I usually took them out in two or three swings.

In mere minutes, I arrive at Memory's Skyscraper. Aqua is standing right in front of the large building, in between the steps. As I saw her, I run up to her. She still has her back facing me. I stop right behind her, panting with my hands on my knees as I try to catch my breath. I stand up taking a deep breath.

"M...mother?" Aqua doesn't say anything. She stays still for a moment, then she turns around. Her appearance is normal, but I still feel something off, even though she looks at me smiling.

I raise my hand out to touch her, just inches away, she glows in Nobody energy. I looked away as the light was blinding. When it clears, a Nobody was taking her place: A Magician. They are Nobodies that are dressed like wizards, actual wizards not the Heartless Wizard, and can project illusions to throw you off.

I'm shocked to see this, then my rage takes over and I slay the Nobody in one single blow. When it's called, I get on my knees, slamming a fist on the ground. "Damn it! I should have known!"

"You certainly should have" A voice says.

I look up, seeing a man sitting on the small roof on top of the door of the building, leg crossed. The man has short black straighten hair and is in a black coat, unzipped, with a black feathery shoulder-pad on the left shoulder, tight black pants and a black shirt that's opened in the chest area with two strips crossing in front in the form of an X. Next him standing is Zaela.

I get back on my feet, backing up to get a better view. "Who are you?" I ask.

"I am Wingul. High Council of the Shadowmoon." Wingul says.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here for you." I'm on alert hearing that, positioning myself to strike. "Our lord Rasputin has his eyes set on you, young one."

"Rasputin?" I ask, confused but cautious.

Zaela chuckles. "You are so much fun to watch. Much more entertaining then that doll who's fighting for your own protection in the darkness..." Zaela turns, looking up with a finger on her chin. "What was her name...Oh, what does it matter? She is nothing more then a toy after all...Just waiting to break."

My anger outbursts as I throw my Keyblade at Zaela with the Strike Raid ability. "SHUT UP!"

The Keyblade aimed for Zaela, but Wingul deflects the Keyblade with his sword. The Keyblade falls right in front of my feet. Wingul makes no expression, he lowers his weapon. "So you do have feelings for the girl. I guess Rasputin was right."

"I don't get why we're teasing him like this. I'd say we just destroy him, right here and now." Zaela says.

Wingul humphs then stands. "If that's what you want, then why don't you do the honors?" Wingul vanishes into the dark.

"Oh, that's so like you, Wingul. Not a single care in the world." Zaela looks down at him. "I'm Zaela, I command the Nobodies for the Shadowmoon."

"Let Aqua go and I may let you live." I say.

Zaela chuckles. "Oh I love it when they make silly deals like that. Do you honestly believe we're just gonna let your friend go like that? Oh, I am so gonna have much fun playing with you."

Zaela snaps her fingers. I'm surrounded by Nobodies: Magicians, Dancers and Songstress's. I pick up my Keyblade, positioned to fight. Good thing I'm still in Critical Impact, I start off using Sonic Blade. Rushing in a sonicboom at the Nobodies five times then a final blast.

The Musicians attacks me, two of them did it by singing out loud. The sound waves hits me. I cast Cura to restore my health, then I keep striking until I unleash Critical Impact. One of the Dancers gets all fixated with me. She grabs me, waves me around then painfully releases me. Man, that's annoying. I cast Water then Ruinra, defeating the last of the Dancers.

One of the Magicians does Illusion, which the Nobody vanishes then reappears and three separate magicians. I focus attacking the Songstress's, attacking with my magic attacks then I enter Spellweaver. I strike with my arcane Keyblade, the fake Magicians vanish in just one strike (It's like that since they'll only have 1 HP). The Magicians attack me with firebolts and throwing cards. I cast Zero Gravity and start attacking the Unversed, while they're floating in the air, then I unleash Spellweaver which finished them.

Now it's just me and Zaela, who's still standing on the small roof on the building. Zaela smirks down at me. "Not bad. You are more skilled then I thought."

I take my stance. "Want some more?"

Zaela laughs. "Oh man, you are so selfish?" I feel offended hearing that. "How can you possibly spend all day fighting with me and the Nobodies while your dear friend is fighting in vein in the darkness, crying for your help." I softly growl and glare at Zaela, and she humphs. "And I thought you were a hero, you're just pathetic. Well, I'm off to go play with the toy. Ta-ta."

Zaela vanishes. I stand in place, I'm not gonna let Zaela get to me, but she is right. Every minute I waste here is one minute Aqua is losing in the darkness.

I shook my head, getting those thoughts out of my head, then I make my leave.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aqua strikes hard at the Invincible Heartless, the girl is struggling to keep fighting, but she doesn't give up. The Invincible floats midair and spins, unleashing shadow razors all around. Aqua blocks those coming towards her with her barrier spell, then counterattacks with a Triple Firaga spell, destroying the Invincible.

Aqua stands in place, gasping for air. She bends down, her Keyblade planted into the ground for support. She's clearly exhausted. Aqua looks up to see Rasputin and his henchman.

"Stop hiding behind your Heartless like a coward! Face me Rasputin!" She yells at him.

"You are beneath me, little girl!" Rasputin holds his hand flat to his side then slowly waves it to his other side.

Aqua becomes surrounded by Neoshadows and Morning Stars. Aqua moans tiresome and annoyance then holds her Keyblade out. "You cannot protect the LeiShen forever! He will fall like the rest!"

Rasputin snaps his fingers, and all of the Heartless attacks.

* * *

Later, at Disney Town, I'm in the castle library, reading the books. I'm trying to do some research on the Shadowmoon. There's something strange about these people. Plus I'm trying to figure out if they know anything about how to get Aqua out of the Realm of Darkness.

I've been in the library for hours. I didn't bother to put the books back in the shelves. The books are pilling up on the desk and floor. Hopefully King Mickey wouldn't mind. I did however find an Elsa Charm in one of the books: Tales of Arendelle. I'm familiar with Arendelle (The world of Frozen) I wasn't quite fond of it, especially the cold. All though Anna was very friendly, but also very gullible. I remembered the time when I tricked her into thinking animals were born by little fairies by leaving bowls of sugar under the Bella Tree deep within the woods.

Bottomline was the whole thing was a joke and she wasn't too happy in the end, neither was Elsa.

I climb up the ladder reach for one of the books on the sixth row on the shelf. I climb down the ladder to read the title. The book is one of Ansem's reports. Ansem's Report #14. Ansem was a wise man, he might have written something about the Shadowmoon.

I sit on the desk, clearing space to place the book. I flip through some pages. Nothing serious, just about the Heartless and Nobodies. I reach to this one chapter the bears the Shadowmoon symbol on top, and I start reading:

'_The Heartless, Organization XIII, Xehanort. They all have a common goal: Kingdom Hearts. However, one group has a different goal. The Shadowmoon._

_I was intrigued by the Shadowmoon, for they control the Heartless, Nobodies and the Unversed. But none of them seeks for Kingdom Hearts. No. They seek to destroy the LeiShens. The LeiShens are a powerful family. Long ago after the Keyblade War, Harry LeiShen brought an end to the war by forging the __χ-blade and sealing away Kingdom Hearts. Ever since then, the LeiShen family have become the guardians of Kingdom Hearts._

_In the year 1993, there was a man named Rasputin who worked for the LeiShens as a wisdom man. However, he betrayed the LeiShen by taking possession of the darkness. He was banished into the Realm of Darkness, with no way of escaping. Years later, Rasputin returned somehow, seeking revenge against the LeiShens. He formed a group called the Shadowmoon, and their ultimate goal is to have the LeiShens face the end._

_The LeiShens and their world vanished, but Rasputin was no where to be found. Even with Rasputin gone, the Shadowmoon is still on the move, for they search for one thing: The Last LeiShen. Who the last LeiShen is or where he or she is at, no one knows. But the Shadowmoon will not rest until they find the LeiShen and-'_

"Excuse me." I flinch, sending that book flying.

I turn to see it's only Queen Minnie with a tray tea set. I sigh in relief. "It's only you."

"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" Minnie asks.

I sit back down on the desk chair. "No, I was just...a little over focused." I say. Minnie walks up to me, puts the tray on the open space on the corner of the desk. She pours some tea into a cup and hands it to me. "Thanks."

I take a sip as Minnie pours herself a cup. "How's the research going?"

"Well, I found something interesting." I say. "All though, I do wonder one thing." Minnie looks at me curiously. "The Shadowmoon are looking for these people known as LeiShens."

"Hmm...The LeiShens. I haven't heard that name in years." Minnie says.

I look at Minnie. "You know them?"

"The king and I visited them once on the day their prince was born." Minnie says. "We haven't heard or seen them since. I was terrified when I heard they died off."

"Well, they're not completely gone. I've read that one LeiShen lives." I say.

"Well, that's just a rumor. No one knows if it's really true." Minnie says.

"I don't know. I think it's true, your highness." I say. "On the day I lost Aqua, I heard a voice: 'You cannot outrun the darkness! I will see to it that the last of the LeiShen's will DIE!' it says, and then I got dragged into darkness, then Aqua took my place." Minnie seems sadden to hear this. "I thought that LeiShen could have been me, but that darkness didn't try to take me again, it just took Aqua. Over the years, I have not heard of the Shadowmoon or this...Rasputin character, where as they have been battling Aqua until she...breaks." I turn to face Minnie. "Is it possible...that Aqua is the LeiShen?"

Minnie thinks for a moment. "Hmm...well, it's possible. The LeiShen's are powerful Keyblade wielders, so it could be anybody."

"Yeah. Well, let's see here." I think for a moment. "King Mickey is obviously not a LeiShen, so he's ruled out. It couldn't be Terra cause he's being possessed by Xehanort, and I believe that mean is also part of the Shadowmoon. I doubt Sora and Riku were born when the LeiShen's fell. Ventus...well, I assume he can't be a LeiShen cause of that while χ-blade role of his, I know it's not much prove, but it's a fact...So that just leaves Aqua."

"What about you? You are a powerful Keyblade wielder, Patrick." Minnie says.

"That's true, but I don't think I am a LeiShen since the Shadowmoon didn't bother me all these years." I put my fingers on my chin. "Of course the question is...why are they watching me now?"

Me and Minnie were silent, the question really is mysterious. I finish drinking my tea and stand up. "Well, I've gotten everything I need." I make my leave from the library. "I'll see yea around, Queen Minnie."

* * *

After my research at the library, I turned to my current home world: Radiant Garden. Everyone is in Marlin's house. Marlin's house was one just a small house in the Borough, but since the family got big, we got ourselves a big house somewhere in the Central Square. It's nothing like a mansion, if Sora and Riku and Kairi are living here, one or two of them would have to sleep on the couch. It's a good thing they still have their islands.

Right now, we're having a little party at Marlins, celebrating the New Years. Everyone's having fun while I'm just sitting on the bench outside of the house, looking at the center area. That's the very spot where Aqua was taken away into the darkness. I could hardly live in this house when this cursed area haunts me.

I look up to the sunset reddish sky, grabbing hold of my Wayfinder with my fingers. "Aqua...what should I do?"

As I look up to the sky, Aerith is walking up behind me. I know she's coming up behind me, but I don't see her. "You okay?" Aerith asks.

I face forward. "Yeah..."

Aerith stands right beside me. "You're thinking about her...Aqua was it?" I didn't say anything to answer Aerith's question. "Serah told us everything. I was surprised to hear that you would want to murder someone."

"Can you blame me? All I want to do is bring Aqua back. But you are right, I was a fool for listening to Hades." I say. "Now I don't know what to do. Aqua is trapped in the darkness, barely alive. Every minute I waste just sitting here and twiddling my thumbs is one minute she loses of staying alive. It's only a matter of time before the darkness completely swallows her."

Aerith puts her hands on my shoulders. "You should take your mind off for a moment. Why don't you come inside?"

"Hmm...all right." I didn't so much enjoy the did, but I guess I could use a little break. I head back inside the house.

Right now, everyone's having a conversation. Except for Yuffie, Cloud and Noel. The three of them are playing Poker. Cid opened a bottle of sparkling cider, handing everyone drinks. Serah even hand me a cup of the stuff. I only took a small sip.

I look at Sora, who's having an enjoying conversation with Tifa and Squall. Laughing. Smiling...wait a minute.

I notice something about Sora as I look at the side of his face. I drop my drink, march towards him. I grab Sora by the shoulders, which startled him, and pinned him to the wall. Everyone else is surprised to see this.

"He-hey. What are you doing?" Sora asks.

I don't say anything, I just stare deep into Sora's eyes. Sora just looks worried. "Big brother, what are you-" I cut Serah off by moving a hand in front of her, shushing while still staring at Sora.

Everyone was silent. As I look into Sora's eyes, I see Roxas. But he's not the one that had me concern, I dig deeper into Sora's mind. Now I see a girl who looks like Kairi but with black hair. Xion. Still I dig deeper, as deep as I could dig.

"What is he doing?" Yuffie whispers.

"I don't know, but it just seems weird." Noel whispers.

I see something else other then Xion and Roxas. It's very fade, but it's enough to convince me. I let out a small breath and release Sora. Sora relaxes a little as I turn and walk away.

"Come with me." I say.

Everyone is confused by what I said there, Sora was confused the most. Everyone exchanged look with each other, then Sora goes ahead and follows me.

Me and Sora leaves the house, getting on my Hoverbike. I start it up then we leave this world.


	13. Awakening

**A/N: The Shadowmoon are trouble aren't they? It's a shame they treat Aqua horrible isn't it? Like she's some toy whose only objective of playing is to break. That's just evil...Anyways, we move on to where I take Sora to Castle Oblivion. I bet you can guess what I'm about to do with the boy.**

World: Castle Oblivion

* * *

After we left Radiant Garden, we travel throughout the World. During our travels, Sora kept asking me where we're going or what it is I want from him. We land on a floating path in the realm of nothingness. We start walking down the path. I take the lead while Sora is slowly following from behind, looking around. He isn't scared, just cautious.

Sora is in a place he hasn't been in before and it's dark and hollow...Or has he been here. For some reason, he's getting this feeling he's been here before.

"Sora." Soras mind returns to reality and faces me. "Did it ever occurred to you how you fell asleep."

"What do you mean?" Sora asks.

I stopped and turned to look at Sora. "Tell, me. Do you remember anything that happened after you sealed the door to darkness?"

"Of course I did. Me, Donald and Goofy were on search to find Riku and the King and then..." Sora hesitated to answer, then he starts to look clueless.

"And then...?" I ask.

"Now that you mean it...I don't remember anything after that. The next thing I knew I was waking up in some weird chamber in Twilight Town." Sora says. "What did happened?"

"Naminé happened." Sora looks at me, shocked.

"Naminé? The...person I'm suppose to thank...wait, what was I suppose to thank her for?" Sora asks.

I turn to continue walking, Sora follows as well. "It's a long story, but it will all be revealed." Me and Sora walked for a while, I stopped as we reached our destination. "Here we are."

Sora looks to find an ominous misshaping castle in the middle of the hollow realm. Castle Oblivion.

Sora couldn't help but stare at the castle. It's very strange, but to him, it certainly does feel familar. Sora walks up ahead, with no attention. I was able to reach him by grabbing his hoodie and pulling him back.

"Careful. The Organization maybe gone, but this castle is still dangerous." I say.

"Organization XIII?" Sora asks.

"That's right. The Organization ruled this castle after it was abandoned years ago.' I say. "I've been here many times before they came around, just stay close to me."

I approach Castle Oblivion and Sora follows me from behind. I open the door and we enter the first hallway. Sora looks around the hallway as we walk towards the door.

"I think...It's coming back to me...What happened exactly?" Sora asks.

"You wondered into this castle while you were looking for your friends. Because you did, Marluxia and the others used Naminé to change your memories." I say. Sora is surprised to hear that.

"How come I don't remember any of it?" Sora asks.

"You were bounded by the Chain of Memories, to serve as a puppet to the Organization. Naminé made you forget everything, little by little, but you were able to fight it. After you defeated Marluxia, Naminé spent nearly a year to fix your memories. By doing that, you won't able to remember anything about this castle."

"Wow...That's...wow." Sora says. "So...you are here often? Why?"

I turn to face Sora. "Two reasons: One. Cause this castle was once my home."

"You're...home?" Sora asks, shocked.

I nod. "This castle was once the Land of Departure. A grand castle where the great Master Eraqus trains Keyblade masters. My friend, Aqua, lived here along with Terra and Ventus. This is where she found me and took me in. But, a year after my arrival, Xehanort attacked this world and it fell darkness. Under Eraqus's orders, Aqua used her masters Keyblade to transform the Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion."

"That's...pretty deep." Sora says.

"Yes. It is. The second reason is because, in the this castle, you can visit illusions of the worlds you have visited in the past. You could say it's like you're literally reliving your memories. I usually come here...cause I miss my home and friends. Visiting my memories just makes me feel like I'm still with them." I explain.

Sora moves his hands behind his head, laying her head back on his hands. "What does that mean?"

I turn, facing towards the door. "You'll soon see." I right up on the platform right in front of the door. I stand straight, place my hand on my heart, close my eyes and concentrate. Three rings filled with cards surrounds my body and spins around.

Sora gasps, he's shocked to see this. I slightly open my eyes. The first ring of cards slows, then I grab the one card that has the picture of the Land of Departure, and the rest of the cards vanish. I hold the card up high in front of the door, and the door absorbed the card.

The door opens. Inside, there's nothing but light. "Whoa." Sora says, amazed.

I turn, looking back at Sora. "Well? You coming?"

"Uh...sure." Sora runs towards the door as I walk right in.

We both wonder into the light. We stop in place as the light shimmers and fades, revealing the hallway of the Land of Departure castle at night.

"Where...where are we?" Sora asked.

"We are in the Land of Departure. However, what we are seeing is only an illusion created by my memories." I say.

"Uh...okay." Sora says.

Me and Sora walks down the hallway of the illusion world. We arrived at some Parlor. The door is slightly open and there's burning light coming out of it. Me and Sora approached to the Parlor. Inside is Aqua and Terra in their pajamas. they're both sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace.

Me and Sora are standing beside the couch. Sora looks at them, wondering. "Are they...your friends?"

"Yes." I turn to face Sora. "It's them, but it's only illusions of them from my memories."

Sora sets his eyes on Aqua. "So...I'm guessing this is that Aqua girl you talked about."

"That is right." I say.

Me and Sora stays silent as the illusion Terra and Aqua speaks. "No way." Terra says, surprised.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. The Heartless came out of no where and attacked him." Aqua says. "The poor kid. He was so scared, he could barely leave my side."

"Well, I don't blame him. I know I would be scared if I was him." Terra says.

Aqua and Terra are silent. As they were, my younger-self walks right in the Parlor. My and Sora turned to see him. Sora is surprised, I on the other hand am not. I'm use to seeing my young-self in these memories.

Young me stands in front of me and Sora, hanging by the couch arm. "Mommy?" Aqua looks down at young me, Terra looks past Aqua to look at him as well. "I can't sleep, I'm scared."

Young me crawls up on the couch, sitting on Aqua's lap as she wraps her arms around me. "Another nightmare?" Aqua asks, receiving a nod for an answer. "It's okay, don't worry. You're safe now."

Young me rests in Aqua's arms. Terra however stands up, leaving. "I guess I leave you two alone."

Me and Sora just watches Aqua and my young-self. They do nothing the whole time, of course my young-self is mostly asleep. After a while, I leave the Parlor and Sora follows me.

"So...you really called Aqua your mother?" Sora asks.

"Yes. I told you Aqua was like a mother to me." I turn to Sora, who looks surprised. "What did you expect? I was a five years-old with no memory of anything!"

Sora crosses his arms, looking up. "Uh...you got a point there."

I turn. "Of course." I walk forward, then stop as a memory door appears right in front of me.

Sora was startled to see the door come out of nowhere. I stand in front of the door, raising a Key to Beginnings card above me. The card vanishes and the door opens. Both me and Sora walks right in.

We walked into the light, then the light clears revealing the courtyard of the castle. When the light clears, it also revealed a ton of Shadow's and Soldiers Heartless.

"Heartless!" Sora summoned his Keyblade, then charges at the Heartless, yelling. Sora swings his Keyblade, only the Keyblade swings through the Heartless like ghosts. Sora is surprised to see this. "What?" Sora swings his Keyblade three more times, all phased through.

Sora stands back. A singe ring of cards surrounds each Heartless, then stop and vanish leaving a single attack card in front of them, and the Heartless strikes. Sora gets hit by each of them and the last one knocks him back.

"That's not going to work." I say. "In this castle, you battle with the cards of your memories." I step forward. "I'll handle this." Rings of cards spins around the Heartless again, as they prepare their next attack.

I stand in place, hand on my heart, concentrating. Three rings of cards surrounds me. The first ring stops at a number 8 Ruin card, then the second ring stops at a number 5 Thunder card then the last one stops at a number 1 Water card. The rings disappear and the cards coming together and I absorbed them, unleashing Ruin Storm. Ruin magic appears at the tip of my Keyblade. I wave my Keyblade around then I shoot a large Ruin orb into the skies.

After a moment of hesitation, multiple Ruins fall from the sky. The Ruins destroyed all the Heartless then ends shortly afterwards. I turn towards Sora. I concentrate again, all three rings ends with a Cure, and the whole thing turns into Curaga and I use it to restore Sora's health.

Sora gets back on his feet. "What are Heartless doing here?"

"They're the Heartless from my memories. It happens sometimes, nothing serious." I say. I walk up to the spot where the Heartless spawned. I bend down and picked up a card. A card that has a picture of the Mark of Mastery symbol. Key to Hidden Secrets.

Sora walks up to me. "Hey, Patrick. Why did you bring me all the way out here?"

I turn to Sora. "I'm here to save an old friend." I turn and walk towards the castle doors. On the door is a crown symbol glowing in magic. "Five years ago, when I passed my Mark of Mastery exam, I kept a friend of mine hidden in this castle to protect him. And it's a good thing too, cause when the Organization took over his castle, I heard they were looking for the Chamber of Awakening he was kept in."

"Why are they looking for this chamber?" Sora asks.

"I'm not sure. I never did figure that out." I say. "I couldn't do anything to stop them, so I hoped that they would never find the chamber. I was actually relieved to hear from Naminé that you and Riku took out the Organization that ruled this castle."

I raise the Key to Hidden Secrets card, it vanishes and so does the symbol. The door opens, a bright light shines and me and Sora walks right into the light.

We leave the memory world of the Land of Departure and enter another hallway of Castle Oblivion. But this hallway isn't like how it is in the Chain of Memories. The hallway is long, you can barely see the other side. Me and Sora move on ahead.

"Fifteen years ago. My friends have fallen into terrible fates thanks for Xehanort." I explain. "One of my friends, Ventus, he was destined to be a powerful weapon known as the χ-blade. But he simply refused to accept it, and cause of that, he lost his heart and put him into an eternal slumber."

"That's horrible." Sora says.

"Yes. It is. However, Aqua and Yen Sid believed that his heart will return one day." I turn my head, barely looking at Sora over my shoulder. "That is why I brought you here. Sora, Ventus's heart is inside you."

Sora stops, shocked. "What? ...How can you tell?"

I turn, facing Sora. "When I saw you back at Marlin's house, I thought I saw a resemblance of Ventus. But I had to make sure, so I looked deep into your heart. As I looked, I saw everyone who was within your heart. Roxas. Xion. And then I saw another person. The other person's identification was very fade, so I couldn't tell if it's exactly Ventus, but, there was another theory that made me believe it was him."

"And what's that?" Sora asks.

"Let me ask you this, Sora: What's the one thing that makes Roxas different from the rest of Organization XIII?" I ask.

"Well...he can wield a Keyblade." Sora says.

"Yes, but besides that?" I ask. Sora thinks for a moment, now he doesn't really know. "I'll spill it for yea. Roxas looks nothing like his person." Sora seems confused. "Members of the Organization have identifies that match to who they were as humans. Vexen as Even. Saix and Isa. Axel as Lea. Roxas looks nothing like you."

Sora looks up, fingers on his chin. "Now that you mention it, that is true." Sora says.

"Yes. Roxas bears the identification of Ventus." Sora is shocked to hear that. "When I first saw Roxas, I was shocked. I even thought it really was him, but then I learned that he's really your Nobody. I never really understood why he looked so much like Ventus...until now."

I turn, moving forward down the hallway. "We should arrive the Chamber of Awakening soon."

Me and Sora walks down the hallway. At the end of the hallway is two large doors that has a crown symbol on each door, with a big keyhole in the middle. Sora takes the first step towards it, but stops as I grab him by the shoulder.

Sora wonders why I stopped him, but his question is answered. Bits of light appears all over the area and they all gathered in the middle. Blinding light brightens the room, me and Sora had to look away. When the light clears, a man is looking down, kneeling on one knee. The man stands and faces us.

"Master Eraqus." I say.

Sora is surprised to hear me say the man's name. "This is the great Master Eraqus?" Sora asks. "I thought you said he died."

"He did, but this Eraqus is really a memorial spirit I created to protect Ventus." I say.

"What are you doing here, Patrick?" Eraqus asks.

"I'm here to see Ventus. I have his heart that'll awaken him." I say.

Eraqus slowly shook his head. "Sorry. But I can't let you pass."

"Excuse me?" I ask, irritated.

"You hold darkness within you, young one. You created me to protect Ventus from the darkness that trespasses in these chambers." Eraqus says.

"I wield the power of Twilight, Eraqus. I carry the strength of the light with the power of darkness. I keep the light and dark within me balanced, it what keeps me strong." I say.

"I see your point..." Eraqus summons his Keyblade, a duplicate Master's Defender. "But I still can't let you in. If you wish to pass, then prove your strength."

Sora summons his Keyblade. I hold my hand in front of him. "No...this is my fight." I step forward, summon my Keyblade and battle Eraqus.

I start with a number 8 attack card, I charge at Eraqus attacking him repeatly. When my attack was done, Eraqus uses a number 5 magic card, casting Spark at me. I concentrate a sleight. As I do, Eraqus attacks with a number 7 attack card. I get three attack cards, two 9's and a 8, granting me Barrage. My sleight cards breaks Eraqus's attack card and I strike at him then throw my Keyblade at him.

Me and Eraqus are at a stand still for a moment. "Your strength is great, youngling." Eraqus says.

"Glad to see you're noticing." I say.

Eraqus concentrates. So do I. Eraqus finishes with three magic cards, a 7, 6 and 9. Chains of Light. Light glows at the tip of his Keyblade, and Eraqus raises his weapon. chains made of light come out of everything, striking me in every direction. My rings ends with a number 8 Elsa card, a number 4 Blizzard and a number 2 Stop. Freeze. When Eraqus was done with his attack, I unleash my attack. A large blizzard spawns as I channel ice energy, then Eraqus becomes frozen solid.

While Eraqus is frozen, I concentrate again. I get three Quasimodo cards, a 7, 4 and 0. Saint De Bell. I channel light energy and hold my Keyblade high. A large light bell appears above Eraqus and swings back and through on him, like he's the center of the bell that triggers the dinging. Eraqus suffers great damage from the first strike since he's frozen.

Saint De Bell ends after the seventh ding. Eraqus concentrates, so do I. I get a number 9 Dusk, number 6 Spark and number 5 attack. Shadowbreaker. Eraqus makes an attack with his Chains of Light sleight, a number 13, but since I have the greater number, my attack breaks his. I strike Eraqus with two sweeps, first with dark and second with light.

I defeated Eraqus. And cause of that, I have learned Heaven's Light, an advanced Command Style.

Me and Eraqus stands in place. Eraqus lets his guard down. "I see...you are powerful indeed." Eraqus kneels down with his Keyblade planted in front of him. "You may enter the chamber." Then Eraqus fades into the light.

"Whoa." Sora says, amazed.

I say nothing. I just stand in front of the double doors. I hold out my Keyblade, aim it directly at the keyhole. The tip of my Keyblade glows then shoots a beam of light. The doors unlock as the keyhole disappears. I open the doors and enter the Chamber of Awakening with Sora behind me.

The Chamber of Awaken is just a small circular room with a throne in the center. Me and Sora walked around the throne, standing in front. We stand in front of the throne. "Sora...this is Ventus."

Ventus sits on the throne, still asleep. "This is Ventus...He's been asleep all these years?"

"That is right." I say.

Sora crosses his arms. "Okay...So how can we wake him?"

"We can't." I look at Sora. "You can."

Sora looks at me, surprised. "What? Me?"

"You hold Ven's heart within your own. If you can call his heart, it will be released and return into it's vessel." I say.

Sora nods. He gives it a try. Sora stands right in front of Ventus. He looks down, hands around his heart, closes his eyes. In his mind, he tries to reach Ventus's heart.

Nothing happens, but then I notice there's a twitch in Ven's hand. He slowly raises an arm. He's not waking up, but his body is moving on its own. Ven's Keyblade appears in his hand, facing ahead instead of backhanded like Ven usually does it.

Vens Keyblade charges then shoots a beam directly at Sora's heart. Sora makes no reaction to it, almost like it never happened. In the end, Ven's heart leaves Soras. Sora opens his eyes, becomes shocked to see the heart. The heart floats in the air then floats its way to Ventus.

The heart enters Ven, and the kid glows for a moment then the light fades. Sora still can't believe all this. He even checked himself for any signs of changes or something bad happening, but it's not.

I stand next to Ven, gently shaking his shoulder. "Ven? ...Ventus." Ven moans in his sleep. "Ventus, wake up."

Ven lifts his head, his eyes slightly open. Ven looks at me, dazed and confused. His vision is pretty blurry. Can't blame him since he's been asleep for fifteen years.

"T-Ter...ra?" Ven mumbles. Ven stretches his arms up, yawning. After that, he looks around tiresome, then his eyes set on Sora and he's on high alert, eyes widen open and worried. "VANTIAS!"

Sora is confused then surprises at Ventus gets up to attack him, only Ven instead trip on the first step and falls into Soras arms. "Easy, Ventus." I say. "He's not Vantias."

Sora helps Ven stand up. Ven turns to face him. "Wait, how do you know my..." Ventus gets a good look at me. When he sees my face, he's shocked. "P...Patrick?" Ven slowly stands in front of me. "B-But...how...you were just a...a..."

Ven gets lightheaded and falls back, fainting. Sora rushes to catch him, but was too late and Ven crashes onto the ground. "Probably should have seen that coming." I say.

Sora and I make our leave from Castle Oblivion. Sora had to help Ven walk. It was a tight squeeze on the Hoverbike, but we make it work. On the way, we explained everything to Ventus.

We're now in Marlins House in Radiant Garden. Ven lays on the couch, resting. "I can't believe it...I've been asleep for fifteen years?" Ven asks. "But...how come I haven't changed?"

"That confused me too." I say. "If I had to guess, I'd say your timeline was asleep as well. In other words, you were in an ageless slumber, just like Aurora was."

Ven sits up. "So...everything you said about home...About Terra and Aqua...it's all true isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so." I say, looking down in shame. "But it won't be for long." I turn, walking away. Serah walks up with a cup of tea. "Take care of Ventus." I say as I walk past her. Serah stops and watches me leave when I spoke to her, then she continues serve the tea to Ven.

"Uh...what is he doing?" Ven asks.

"He's on a journey to find someone." Serah says.

Ven seems surprised to hear that. He looks at me as I open the door and leave. After I left, Ven reaches into his pocket, he takes out the Wayfinder and looks down at it. "Terra...Aqua..."


	14. The Enchanted Castle

**A/N: After all these years, Ventus is finally awake. What about Terra? I'd include Aqua in the question but the girl is already the main plot of the story. But let's see where the journey takes next:**

World: Ville De Roses

* * *

I have brought Ventus back into the wakening world. After fifteen long years, I actually begin to believe that he would never awaken from his slumber. Bringing him back has brought me some confidence that I'll be able to rescue Aqua. I guess I'll have to say the same thing for Terra, since Aqua would want to free him from Xehanort's control. I am going on as her living legacy after all.

I now walk in a small village. As I walk, I take a look around. Everything seems a bit...old fashioned. Have I returned to La Cite Des Cloches? I can only imagine. I leave the streets and noticed a ton of villagers gathering around one house.

"What's going on over there?" I wonder, heading towards the crowd.

"And you! Lefou! When Belle and I come out that door..." Gaston says.

"Oh! I know! I know! I strike up the band!" Lefou waves around his baton, and the band plays the wedding march in many instruments, except the piano of course.

I make my way through the crowd. I reach to the front and noticed the short man with the large nose, and the large muscular man jamming a tuba in Lefou.

"NOT YET!" Gaston says, angrily.

"Sorry." Lefou says through the tuba.

"Hey." Gaston looks at me. "What's going on?"

Gaston gets a good look at me. "You new here?" Gaston points at himself, smiling that his teeth are shining. "The name's Gaston. The world's greatest hunter."

I look at Gaston, head to toe. "So I hear." I say doubtfully.

"If you must know, I've chosen my bride and I'm going to go propose to her." Gaston turns, he straightens his collar shirt and walks right into the house.

I stand by watching even through Gaston is already in the house, then I come to my senses when Lefou smashes into me. He tries to pull the tuba out, then I give him a hand at removing it. We keep pulling on the tuba until it finally pops out.

"Thanks man." Lefou says.

"Don't mention it." I say. "I betcha 1000 munny she rejects him."

Lefou chuckles. "You're on! No girl has ever turned down on Gaston!"

Just then, Gaston gets tossed out of the house and into the mud pit. Not even paying attention, Lefou starts up the band. I just stand by, arms crossed, feeling disturbed by Lefou's stupidity. He's clearly not seeing Gaston's been dumped.

Lefou turns to face Gaston, then notices the situation and stops the band. "So. How'd it go?"

I slam my hand on my head, groan in irritation. Gaston grabs Lefou by the shirt and lifts him off of his feet, facing him. "I'll have Belle for my wife!" I become shocked hearing the name 'Belle' "Make no mistake with that!" Gaston drops Lefou into the mud pit then leave.

When Gaston leaves, the rest of the citizens returns to the village. I just stand in place, looking at the small farmhouse. "Belle?"

I'm familiar with Belle. I have met the seven princess's of heart back in Hollow Bastion, all through I still wonder how Alice and Kairi are princesses. I'm just surprised that Ariel's not one of the princesses. I do not want to talk about Atlantica, that world was a total nightmare.

I walk up to the house and knock on the door. "I told you! I'm not interested!"

Belles voice was hostile, but I don't blame her. "Belle, it's me. Patrick."

A ton of locks click and I hear chain noises, guessing that one was that Belle was removing the chain lock, then the door opens. Belle's just dressed in a simple blue dress with an apron.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought you were Gaston." Belle says.

"If you think I'm that charming air head, you're sadly mistaken." I say. Belle stands aside, letting me in. I take a look around the house. "Nice place you have here..."

Belle closes the door. "You don't like it?"

"No. Just not what I was expecting from a princess." I notice the large bookshelf. "I see you're still into books."

"Oh of course. So, how's Sora doing?" Belle asks.

"Ah, well you know. Cocky as ever." I say, earning a laugh from Belle. "You by yourself?"

"Yes, my father is out of town for the inventors convocation at the festival." Belle says.

"I see." I say. "So what's up with that Gaston fella? I heard he tried to propose to you."

Belle sighs in disappointment as she moves to a chair and sits on it. "He's just some rude selfish jerk who thinks he all special."

"I can tell the fact he thinks he's the worlds greatest hunter." I say, mocking Gastons arrogance tone.

Belle laughs at my little joke. "So...what brings you here?"

"I'm looking for someone. A friend of mine." I say.

"Oh yeah. That's right. You mentioned that back in Hollow Bastion." Belle says.

"It's Radiant Garden now, and yes." I say. "I recently discovered she's still alive, but she doesn't have much time left. So now I'm trying to find her."

Belle seems worried. "What do you mean she doesn't have much time left?"

"I have learned that she's been fighting in the Realm of Darkness for fifteen years, and by the looks of her struggles, it was nonstop." I say. "She's about to reach her limits, so I have to save her."

Belle looks down in sorrow. We say nothing, but then Belle comes on alert when she hears a fainted noise. Belle looks at the door on alert. "Phillipe?" Belle rushes out of the house, I lately follow her from behind.

Belle stands out on the yard, looking. She spots a horse neighing in fear and running towards the house. "Phillipe!" Phillipe stops right in front of Belle, jumping off of its front hoofs. "What's wrong?"

I look past the horse to notice wolves chasing after it. As the wolves get closer, I notice they have evil eyes and Heartless Symbols. They're the Heartless. "Heartless!" Belle looks past Phillipe and gasps. I stand in front of Belle, summoning my Keyblade. "I got this, Belle."

The Howling Wolves, Howling Wolf is the Heartless named, surrounds me from the front. I take out my Elsa Charm and activate the D-link. My body glows in frost energy, with a cloud hovering over my head, light snow and I now skate on the ground like it's ice. My Keyblade also becomes completely covered in ice.

I strike at the Heartless, my attacks involve angle strikes and a few Keyblade throws where the Keyblade spin attacks and I control it with my magic. The ice powers on the Keyblade causes the Howling Wolves to slow down on their movement. Those near me attacks me.

I cast Blizzaga, destroying one of the Howling Wolves. Then I do Ice Needles. I plant my Keyblade in front of me, large icicles surrounding me, then I pin the Keyblade into the ground, causing a line of ice shards to raise out of the grounds, chasing Heartless one-by-one. The Howling Wolves that attacks me failed to as the icicles surrounding me hurts them. Ice Needles ends and the icicles surrounding me returned to the ground.

Three Howling Wolves remain. They all attack me at once. I cast Cura, then I reach my full power and unleash Let It Go. I channel powerful frost and ice power. A large snowflake appears right under my feet, I'm standing in the center, and pillars of ice raise out of the end of each of the lines of the snowflake. A large ice crystal appears right above me. I aim my Keyblade at it, shoot a beam of ice at the crystal. The crystal explodes an unleash hundreds of ice shards all over, finishing off the Howling Wolves.

I turn to Belle, who's looking at Phillipe with worry. "I take it this is your horse."

"Yes. But papa isn't with him." Belle says. "Where's papa?"

I turn to the direction where the horse came from, which is the woods. "The horse came from those woods."

"You have to take me to him right away." Belle gets on Phillipe.

I stand beside her. "I'm going with you."

"You don't have too." Belle says.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go alone." I say. "The woods out there is crawling with Heartless, and as the Keyblade Master, it's my job to protect the Princesses of Heart."

"Says the guy who spent his time trying to find a friend while the darkness was taking us in." Belle says.

I roll my eyes and sighed. "You know what I mean. Also, I'm the one who helped rescue you and the other princesses in Hollow Bastion."

"I thought you said you only helped Sora when he lost his Keyblade in Hollow Bastion." Belle says.

"Are we gonna sit out here pointing fingers all day or are we gonna find and save your father?" I shot at Belle.

Belle realizes I have a point there and we make our way into the woods to find her father. We leave the village and head right for the Enchanted forest. The woods are an autumn shade of color. Belle is mounted on Phillipe while I'm walking aside guarding her.

I was right that I had to come, the woods is crawling with Heartless. Not just the Howling Wolves, but also Shadows and few Large Bodies. I fight the Heartless, though it was hard when they start attacking Belle. Now I have to fight them while protecting her.

With each Heartless I defeat, we move deeper into the woods and more and more Heartless spawn. Phillipe leads us to the Black Forest, which is a dreaded dark woods filled with nothing but snow, fog and dark trees. Me and Belle are on high alert in these woods. Good thing too, cause more and more Heartless spawn.

The Heartless is getting crazy. I even had to use my Lightning Charm in my D-linking. I strike at the Heartless, at high speed and with powerful assaults. Connecting to Lightning has made the fights in this forest easier.

In the end, me and Belle arrived at the gates of a large, gloomy castle. "What is this place?" Belle asks.

"Looks like a castle, but seems ominous." I say.

Belle hops off of Phillipe. She opens the gates and walks in. She gasps seeing a cloak and a hat on the bridge. She kneels down and pick them up. "Papa..." Belle stands up and walks ahead, but suddenly stops when I grab her from behind. Belle turns. "What are you doing?"

"If I there's one thing I've learned about dark mysterious castles is that there will be trouble within them." I walk ahead, taking the lead. "Stay close to me."

Me and Belle approaches to the castle walls. We entered the courtyard and arrive at the castle doors. Inside, the castle is dark and empty. Almost abandoned even.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Belle asks, her voice echoing in the castle. "Papa? Papa?"

I stand next to Belle, getting a view of the castle. "This is a big castle. He could be anywhere." Me and Belle begin our search around the castle.

We start at the West Wing. The area becomes darkened, I had to grab a nearby lit candelabra to guide us in this darkness. We walk through the halls of suit of armors. As we walk down the hallway, I get an uncomfortable presence. My eyes roll side to side, slightly turning my head.

Belle takes notice. "Something wrong?" She asks.

"I don't know." I say. "I'm getting this strange feeling...we're being watched."

"Oh, but you are monsieur." A voice says.

I turn looking at Belle. "Did you say something?"

Belle looks confused. "I thought you did."

"It was me." The voice says.

I turn around, holding the candelabra high. "Who's saying that?"

"Over here." I turn around, seeing no one again.

"Where?" I ask, getting irritated.

I felt a tap on my head, I look up, then hold the candelabra in front of my face, noticing it also as a face. "Hello."

Me and Belle are shocked, Belle gasped and I dropped Lumière. I kneel down, looking closely at the candelabra. So does Belle. "I...I don't believe it."

A clock, Cogsworth, jumps off the table and hops towards Lumière. "Nice going, Lumière. You blow our cover. Just like the other man who trespassed."

"Other man...you mean my father?" Belle asks hopefully.

Lumière stands up. "Oh mademoiselle. You are looking for our guest. Right this way." Lumière hops away, with Belle following him.

Cogsworth chases after Lumière. "Lumière! Don't! The master will not be pleased! And that man isn't our guest!"

We both followed Lumière in the castle. He leads us to the spiral tower which is leading towards the dungeon above. Me and Belle are starting to feel a little uncomfortable approaching this area. I keep my guard up in case they're onto something. I don't have much to worry since I can overpower some lively household objects.

Me and Belle look to find a single dungeon door. "Is someone there?" Belle asks.

"Belle? Is that you?" A voice asks.

Belle smiles with a gasp. "Papa!" Belle rushes to the door. Her father, Maurice, shows himself from the door window.

"Belle. You must leave!" Maurice says.

"Not without you. Who's done this to you?" Belle asks.

"There's no time to explain. You must go!" Maurice says.

But it's too late. in the shadows, something large grabs Belle and tosses her away. "What are you doing here!?"

Belle falls to the ground. I rush in front of her, summoning my Keyblade ready to attack. "Who's there!?" I say, defensively.

"The master of this castle!" The shadow says, growling. Lumière and Cogsworth takes cover, hiding.

I position myself. Then I yell and charge. I jump to make my strike, but the creature swipes, knocking me back. I crash against the wall, I sat down. As I got up, I noticed there's a scratch on the sleeve of my coat, and there's blood coming out of the wounds.

I look to see the figure coming into the light. Me and Belle are surprised, the master of this castle is a monstrous, hideous beast. I change expressions from horrified to battle and positioned myself.

"You being a beast changes nothing!" I say.

Beast roars and charges towards me. I charge back. Beast and I fight each other, striking, blocking and parrying. I only land few strikes while Beast makes painful slashes at me. In the end, I get knocked to the wall, injured.

Beast walks up to me, growling. He's right in front of, raises his claws above him roaring. Belle rushes in and stands in Beasts way, defending me. "Wait!" Beast just freezes his position. "Spare my father, and my friend here. I'll take their place."

"You!" ...Beast starts to calm down. "You would...take their place?" Belle nods.

"Belle? No!" Maurice says, worried.

"Have you lost your mind?" I ask Belle.

"You have my word." Belle says.

Beast moves to the dungeon. He opens the door and drags Maurice out, then grabs me by the back collar of my coat. "He-hey! Let me go you oversized stuff animal!" I say thrashing to get free.

Beast drags me and Maurice around the castle until we're at the entrance. "Please! Don't hurt her!" Maruice bags.

"She no longer concerns you!" Beast tosses Maurice out. Maurice screams and crashes by the bridge doors. Beast holds me up to his level and glares at me growling. "Take him to the village and never return!"

Beast tosses me into the courtyard. I scream until I crash on the ground, then Beast walks back into the castle. "Ouch!" I stand back up. I look back at the castle, wiping the dust off of my clothes. "Humph! How rude!"

Maurice gets back on his feet, he storms towards the castle. I was able to grab him and hold him back. "Belle! Belle!"

I pull Maurice back. "Don't!" I pull Maurice back. "We're only going to make things worse."

"I can't leave my daughter in there! I have to get her out!" Maurice says.

"She can take care of herself." I grab Maurice by the back of his shirt and start dragging him. "But for now, let's just return to the village."

"No wait! I'm not leaving her with that beast! Belle!" Maurice shouts.

Maurice struggles to break out of my grip. Now i know how the Beast felt when I was thrashing around when he was kicking us out of his castle.


	15. Thawing a Cold Heart

**A/N: The Beast is cold and heartless isn't he? Kicking me and Maurice out of his castle like we're luggage. Oh who am I kidding. That's who he is! I can only imagine how Belle's gonna handle the situation.**

World: Ville De Roses

* * *

Beast escorts Belle around the castle, showing her around. Since she's a girl, he would want to treat her like she's a guest. After all, he does need her to break the spell. Belle was told that she's allow to go anywhere she pleases within the castle, all except the West Wing room.

Meanwhile, back at the village. The villagers are all gathered in the bar, just hanging out having a drink. Gaston is the only one who isn't pleased. He sits by the fireplace on his animal skinned fur chair. He's upset about Belle turning him down. Maurice barges right in, panicking for help to rescue Belle.

When Maurice told everyone about the beast, they just laughed at him and call him crazy. In the end, everyone tossed him out and Maurice fall into the snow. I was standing next to the door, hanging with arms crossed. I just saw Maurice get tossed out of the bar.

I walk up to Maurice as he kicks his feet trying to get out. "I told yea they wouldn't believe you." I say.

Maurice pops his head out of the snow, then he stands up. "Well? What are we gonna do? We can't just leave her there with that-that beast!"

"Trust me, I've seen Belle take on stuff bigger and tougher then the Beast." The darkness that was unleashed in Hollow Bastion when Sora used the dark Keyblade to free the princesses hearts and Kairis. "But if you're so concern, I'll return to the castle and help her."

I escort Maurice back to his home. Once that's done, I head out into the woods, making my way to the castle.

Meanwhile, Bella is laying on the bed in her new room in Beast's castle. The girl couldn't turn off her mind. All she could think about was the bedroom in the West Wing. What could be in there? What is he hiding? Belle gets out of bed, walking down the hallway, making her way to the West Wing.

In the inner hallway, Belle slowly walks in as she looks around. The hallway is filled with destroyed objects hanging everywhere and it's all dirty with claw markings on the wall. Almost like no one's been here EVER.

Belle finds the double doors that which leads to Beasts room. She knows not to trespass, but her curiosity got the best of her, and she enters. The room is in even worse mess then the hallway was. At the end of the room, Belle notices a rose. Floating, glowing, in cased in glass. Why would the Beast have a rose like this? Belle slowly approaches the rose. What she doesn't know is what lays in store for her when the Beast discovered her trespassing.

I make my way through the woods. So far, there aren't any Heartless. It's quiet...a little too quiet. In no time, I made it to the Beasts castle.

I walk on the bridge, remembering what the Beast told me, to take Maurice to the village and never return to this castle. I know he'll kill me for returning to the castle, but I don't fear him, even if he can take me.

I entered the courtyard then walk right into the castle. It's the same as it was when me and Belle came here. I only walked about five feet away from the doors when the Beasts shouting echoes throughout the castle.

"GET OUT!"

His shouting startles me. I'm on alert, looking for the Beast. I have a feeling he knows I'm here. I relax as soon as I saw Belle running down the West Wing stairs, rushing towards the exit.

"Belle!" I say, surprised.

"Patrick! Thank goodness! We have to leave!" Belle says.

I stand in front of Belle, stopping her. "Whoa! I know there's a beast in this castle, but what's the rush?"

"There's no time to explain. Promise or no promise! I can't stay here another minute!" Belle grabs me by the wrist and drags me out of the castle with her.

We now ride on Phillipe, running away. Belle explains everything that happened to me, how she was told not to go into the West Wing bedroom, she did it anyways and the Beast caught her and yelled at her to get out.

"Why in the light would you do that? You're even crazier then I thought!" I ask.

"I didn't think he was really hiding something." Belle says.

"Really? What does the word 'Forbidden' mean in this world? You're welcome to come in with no trouble at all?" I ask.

"I'm sorry. I was just curious. That's all." Belle says.

"Ever heard of Curiosity killed the cat?" I ask.

Belle felt offended hearing that, but decided to change the subject. "Where's papa?"

"Don't worry. He's safe at your house." I answered. Belle's relieved to hear that.

We both said nothing else. Phillipe stops and jumps off of his front foots, neighing in worry. Me and Belle fell off of the horse. "Ow!" Me and Belle stand back up. "What's up with that horse of yours?"

Belle looks at something ahead, shocked and scared. "I think...that."

I look at Belles direction. I'm shocked. There are two large wolves, about 1.5 our size. Either bigger or the same as the Beast. They're clearly Heartless. One wolf has purple fur, large sharp teeth, no claws and black eyes. The other is black fur with small fangs but large sharp claws and red eyes.

Fang and Claw.

"Heartless." I muttered.

The twin wolves just stands in place, glaring at us and growling. Countless Howling Wolves appeared, coming out of the shadows. Belle becomes scared and hides behind me as I summon my Keyblade, positioned to fight.

"Stay behind me, Belle." I say.

The Howling Wolves surrounds us, and I attack them all. I first gathered them with Magnet and strike at them, then used Strike Raid. The Magnet ends and then I entered Critical Impact. I strike hard at the Heartless with brutal strength. Many of the Howling Wolves were defeated. With each one slain, more appears.

I cast Spark, channeling a single ring of light around me, hurting any of the Heartless within. The Howling Wolves strikes at me, I suffer great damage. I cast Cura then do Shimmer Sweep. My power grows deeper and I entered Heaven's Light, being coated in light and growing a white angel wing on my right shoulder.

I strike at the Heartless at swiftly at the speed of light. I kill the Heartless nearly twice as fast in my normal power rate. I cast Ruinra. More Howling Wolves die and more appear. I do Sonic Blade, zooming around as I attack the Heartless. I reach my full power and unleash Heaven's Light. I plant my Keyblade on the ground, by the hilt with the tip aiming up. I float in the air, legs crossed, right on top of the Keyblade. The Keyblade shoots a beam of light at me, forming a light barrier around me. I gather the energy and unleash it by spreading my arms out, unleashing a dozen light lasers all over the area, the lasers weaves around and the beams slowly spins around.

Many of the Howling Wolves get destroyed by the Heaven's Light. After fifteen seconds, it ends. Belle and I slowly move back, holding my Keyblade ready to strike. The Howling Wolves prowls up on us, and more of them are spawning.

"There's too many of them." Belle says.

"Damn it! Where are they all coming from?" I ask, irritated.

The Howling Wolve pounces at us. I cast a Zero Gravira, sending them in the air. Phillipe neighs in worry, Belle looks to see that the Howling Wolves at attacking the horse.

"Phillipe!" Belle rushes to her horse.

"Belle! No!" I chase after her, but the Howling Wolves block my path. I try to fight my way through the Heartless.

Belle picks up a large stack, swinging it at the Howling Wolves. She tries her best to protect her horse, if only she could protect herself. The Howling Wolves attacks Belle. One of them manages to knock her down, the other one growls at her.

Belle screams in worry as the Howling Wolf pounces on her. Just before it made contact, someone grabs the Heartless, lifts it at his face and roars fierce at it.

It's the Beast.

Me and Belle are surprised that he's here, fighting the Heartless. Beast destroys all of the Howling Wolves surrounding Belle. I finish off my own wolves as well. When the Heartless were clear, Fang and Claw jumps into the field, howling. Me and Beast position ourselves, fighting off Fang and Claw.

While Beast is rushing in and attacking Fang, I take out my Mushu Charm and activate the D-link. Claw assaults me. Fang does its powerful bites on Beast, but Beasts bites back at the Heartless. When I'm free from Claws attacks, I attack with my blazing Keyblade, then cast Firaga Burst, creating a orb of flame, shoot it above Claw and hundreds of fire bolts rains down from the orb, burning Fang and Claw.

Beast swipes his claws at Fang, Claw now focuses on Beast. I repeatly cast Firaga at Fang and Claw, then I do Raging Storm, where I float inches off the ground with three flaming tornados circling around me. Fang and Claw does ferocious attacks on Beast. Beast roars in agony, but then in anger and counterattacks with great strength.

I reach my full power and unleash Guardians Flare, unleashing a powerful wave of flare right in front of me at Fang and claw, and my D-linking with Mushu ends. I resume attacking the twin wolves. Claw leaps onto me, savagely slashing me with its claws. Fang howls fierce, unleashing a moonblast on it, harming me and Beast.

When I break free from Claws assault, I use Cura then cast Fira and Dusra, then I enter Star Surge. Me and Beast attacks the Heartless with all of our strength. Fang leaps onto Beast, salvaging him with its teeth. Going for the throat you might say. I cast Quake on Claw, making an earth spike raise underneath the Heartless. Beast breaks free from Fang's assault and fights back hard.

I reach my full power and unleash Star Surge, ending the Heartless. Fang and Claw stumbles, they both release one last howl and their bodies collapse. The Heartless symbols glows and a large heart was released from each of them.

I take the moment to rest, then I turn to Beast. He's standing there, exhausted and hurt. I can see a rough scratch on his arm. Beast lefts out a soft growl then he collapses into unconsciousness.

I look at Belle, who's paying her attention to Beast. She seems worried, either of herself or for Beast. I walk up to her. "You all right?"

Belle seem startled when I spoke to her. "Ye-yeah." Bell and I turn out attention to the unconscious Beast. "I can't believe he came to save us."

"He really isn't a bad guy, is he?" I ask. Belle and I help Beast settle on Phillipe then we take him back to the castle.

Back at the castle, Belle treats the Beast's wounds. The servants are really scared about this. I wouldn't blame them, but I'm not really afraid. If anything, I'm protective. If Beast dares to hurt Belle, I'll slice him in half.

Belle's treatment on the Beast starts off rough. The servants cowers in fear while I position myself to spring into action. After a minute of their argument, things start to calm down. I've decided that I'm not needed here, so I step out into the Entrance Hall.

I lay my back against the wall, sliding to a sitting position while releasing a loud sigh. The servants come out. "Is something wrong, monsieur?" Lumière asks.

I look at the servants. "No. Just still a little shaken from the woods." I say.

Mrs. Potts and Chip hops to my side. "Here. How about a spot of tea?" Mrs. Potts pours the tea into Chip. I grab Chip and drink the tea.

"Hey, can you...guys tell me something?" I ask. "What's the deal with that Beast?"

"Ah, you see. The master wasn't always like that." Mrs. Potts says. "Why, he use to be a prince and we were all human?"

Hearing that grabs my attention. "Is that so?"

"That's right. It was the Enchantress." Cogsworth says. "It was a cold winters night..."

The servants explained the whole story to me. About an old bagger women asking for shelter, but the prince turned her away. Cause of that, the women turned into a beautiful enchantress. The prince begged for forgiveness, but it was too late. The enchantress put a spell on the prince, turning him into a beast. As further punishment, she put a spell on the whole castle and everyone in it.

But there is a way to break the spell. The Beast was given an enchanted rose, and if he can learn how to love and earn love in return before the last petal of that rose falls, everything goes back to normal.

Later on, Beast and Belle settles in their bedrooms. I just stand hanging by the hall next to the door of Belle's room. I've been thinking about this spell the Beast is put under. It's no wonder he's vicious. After all: Who could ever love a beast?

I look at the door, I wonder if Belle's different. She does have a kind heart, which makes her a princess after all. I wonder if she could be...the one.

I make my way to the Beasts room, going to the West Wing all the way from the East. I enter the hallway to the Beasts room. It's a complete dump, then again I'm not surprised. I approach to the door, opening it slightly. I take a peek to see Beast just standing in front of a small table by the window.

What caught my attention is that there's a glowing rose contained in glass on that table. I'm guessing that's the enchanted rose. I walk right in, Beast doesn't seem to be paying attention. I also notice he has something on his mind.

"She means that much to you, doesn't she?" I ask.

Beast becomes startled, he starts snarling when he sees me. "You!"

Beast stands in front of the rose, growling as he glares at me. "No need to beast on, I come in peace." I say, holding two fingers out in one hand. "So...I heard you're under this...spell."

Beast groans and turns around, putting his claws and face on the table. "Why did you have to bring it up?"

"Well your servants told me about it." I say, walking up to Beast.

Beast looks at his wrapped arm. "I can't believe she would do this to me...after everything I've done to her."

"Well, you did save our lives from those Heartless. I'm not really surprised. She does have a kind heart." I say.

"Yes...she does." Beast turns his head over his shoulder, looking at me. "I want to make it up for her...but what should I do?"

I rub my chin looking up. "Well...from what I know, you can give a girl some flowers...chocolates. But We may need to do bigger..." I look directly at Beast as I got an idea. "Tell me. Does this castle have a library?"

Beast tells me there is one, so I told him that he should take Belle to it. As he goes get Belle, I take a little adventure to the library, figuring it could have any further information of the Shadowmoon or how to rescue Aqua from the darkness. The library is very huge, even I'm most surprised. If there was a world that's nothing but one giant library, this library would be bigger then that world.

Beast takes Belle to the library, but keeps it a surprise. I'm currently at the top shelf, which is like forty feet off of the ground, gathering some books I'm gonna research. Belle takes a look at the library and she's is completely surprised.

"I can't believe it! I've never seen so many books in my life. It's wonderful!" Belle says.

I look down, hearing Belle's loud 'Wonderful'. Only the second I do, my foot slips and I fall off the ladder. Belle and Beasts looks to notice my falling as I scream. Belle gasps when I crash to the ground.

"I'm okay!" I say, only to soon have a large pile of books fall from the shelves and onto me. Even the Beast became concern seeing that. "I'm still okay." My voice was a big rough and muffled, cause I was crashed by those books.


	16. The Hunt

**A/N: Everything's gone nuts hasn't it? With the ambush by the Heartless in the forest. But I'm sure it was pretty predictable. Let's see what happens next now that Belle and Beast are getting along.**

World: Ville De Roses

* * *

Three days have passed since the attack in the forest. Belle and Beast have been going along very well. I spent all my time in this world at the library, searching for information about freeing Aqua from the darkness, or the Shadowmoon. I've been through hundreds of books, but none of them carry any information I'm looking for. Why am I surprised? Ville De Roses isn't a major world that would know anything outside of it. Even if Belle is one of the seven princesses of heart, that changes nothing.

Back in the village, Gaston is pacing around in his usual hang out: The bar. The place is dark and abandoned, for it's closed for the night. Gaston is grumbling about Belle.

"How can she turn me down? ME! Gaston! The worlds greatest hunter! I will make her my wife!" Gaston says.

"So you say." Gaston is startled. He turns to see a dark portal, with Izu coming out of it.

"Who are you?" Gaston asks.

"Nothing you need to know about. I'm here to help you." Gaston is confused. "You know about this Beast story that old man was saying? Well..." Izu opens a dark portal, showing Gaston a vision somewhere. "He's not wrong."

The portal shows visions of Belle and Beast's time together. Seeing this upsets Gaston, he can tell she has feelings for Beast. After seeing enough visions, the portal closed.

"How could she choose that...monster over me?" Gaston asks.

"It's all because of him." Izu snaps his fingers, and darkness appears next to them, as it takes the form of an illusion of me. "He's the one that brought Belle and that beast together." Gaston is surprised to hear that, for he remembers me at the day he proposed to Belle. The illusion me vanishes. "However, you can still win her heart. I can give you a special kind of power. Cast your heart to the darkness, and she will be all yours."

Gaston looks directly at Izu, smirking, with a dark aura coating him.

In the castle, tonight's a special night for Beast and Belle. They get dressed up, and groomed in Beasts case, and they head into the ballroom. I've decided to take a pause in my studies to be there on this important night. That and to prevent any of the Heartless or the Shadowmoon from interfering.

I just stand by the doors with the rest of the servants as Beast and Belle dances together. Talk about Beauty and the Beast. Halfway through the dance, I grow a little bore and walk to the balcony on the other end of the room. I do take the path by the wall just to stay out of the way on their important moment.

I open the doors and walk right out into the balcony, closing the doors behind me. I stand by the railing, resting my hands on it while I'm looking up at the moon. The moonlight rays shines directly at me. Kind of makes me think of Aqua. We use to hang by the cliffs just on the outskirts of the castle, watching the stars and the moon.

"Aqua..." I raise my hand, grabbing hold of the Wayfinder around my neck. "I just wish we can be together again...Please tell me...how can I find you?"

"You are merely wasting your time." I become startled, jumped a little and turn around. I know that voice. It's Terranort.

"You again?" I summon my Keyblade, aiming it at Terranort. "What the hell do you want? Are you following me?"

Terrnort shrugged his shoulders. "More or less. I heard you've awaken Ventus from his broken state of slumber. I must admit, I'm impressed. You are more clever then I thought."

"There's more where that came from." I shift my weapon, position it inches from Terranort's face, who's showing no signs of fear or worry from the strike. "Why don't you come out of that body so I can tear you to pieces, you old coot!"

Terranort chuckles. "You don't scare me. I know a hollow threat when I see one."

"How's this for hollow!?" I shout in anger.

I yell as I charge towards Terranort, as soon as I made contact, he instantly vanishes and I end up barging through the doors and falling on the ground. Belle and Beast were startled by my barging. I moan in pain as I lift my upper body up from the ground.

"I hate it when he does that..." I say. My barging left an awkward moment for everyone.

The rest of the night was very silent. Belle wants to see her father again, so Beast decided to let her go so she can go to him. Belle's being released from taking her fathers place as prisoner...even through she wasn't really treated as one.

Belle decided to return to her home by herself, mounted on Phillipe. I just stay behind with Beast, who is in his bedroom depressed. "Why did you let her go?" I ask.

"Because...I love her." Is all the Beast answers. His mind is focused on his rose, and he's overwhelmed in despair.

Beast has learned how to love, but he's yet to earn Belle's love in return. The poor guy. I now just sit on the front steps of the castle. This just reminds me of the time I've lost Aqua. Beast loves Belle and he has to let her go. I love Aqua and she was taken from me.

It's always hard to lose the ones we love.

I look up to the skies, when I notice some smoke coming from the distance. "Smoke...?" I jumped a little when I realized where it's coming from. "The village!" As soon as my feet, I zoom off into the woods heading for the village.

My path in the Black Forest is clear. Not a single Heartless in sight. I'm wondering if it's the Heartless that's attacking the village, could be either that or the Heartless are still in fear for me and Beast have defeated Fang and Claw. I don't stop to think, I just run.

I arrive to the village. To my worst fears, it's engulfed in flames. The heartless, Archers: Heartless in the form of Shadow's on two feet wearing medieval tights (Dressed like Robin Hood I mean), Howling Wolves and Red Nocturnes, are attacking the villagers while they're panicking in fear. I stand in place, looking around. I'm overwhelmed in worry. My head starts to hurt and I fall on my knees, I start to have visions, painful visions.

This is about my forgotten past, I can tell. It's just like back in the Land of Dragons. Houses burning, Heartless attacking the villagers, the sounds of people screaming. I remember these visions. I had these when I was a child back in Land of Departure, when the Thunderstorms awaken these horrible visions.

"Mommy! I'm scared!" I hear my child voice echoing in my head.

"What...is...happening?" I ask, gritting through my teeth.

I hear Belle's scream, which snaps me out of my terrance. "Help!"

I look up to see Belle and Maurice surrounded by the Heartless. I get on my feet and rush in, taking out the Heartless. The Heartless were an easy kill, destroyed each of them with a single strike.

"Patrick!" Belle runs up to me.

"Belle! What the heck is going on?" I ask.

"It's Gaston. He's lost his mind!" Belle says. "He's about to kill the Beast."

I groan in annoyance. "I knew that guy was trouble." I hold out my Keyblade in position to attack. "Where is he?"

"He's already gone, he went into the woods." Maurice says.

We all make no hesitation. We run into the Black Forest heading for the castle. The path is crawling with Heartless. Obviously, Gaston is trying to hold us back so he can kill Beast on his own.

A storm blows in at the castle. Beast is in his chambers, looking down at his rose in depression. He doesn't even bother to do anything when the sound of door banging echoes through the castle. Gaston barges the Entrance Hall door opens, walks right in then stands in place smirking.

The hunt awaits.

I fight off the Heartless as we make our way to the Beast's castle. The Heartless here are getting tough, even in my Heaven's Light command style, it still takes a while to defeat them. The Heartless fought fierce, the Archers were a hard hit since they fight at long distances.

Belle and Maurice could hardly get a safe distance against these creatures. I don't know why I had to bring them with me...well, Belle I suppose since she cares about Beast, but Maurice. Why is he here?

As we make it through the forest, Beast is on the roof in the rain with Gaston. Gaston is fighting hard against Beast. Beast is barely fighting back, for he's overwhelmed in sorrow for letting Belle go.

Gaston kicks Beast hard, knocking him down on the ledge. Gaston takes out his sword, approaching the Beast. We had just arrived to see Gaston's about to finish Beast.

"No!" Beast looks down when he hears Belle's voice.

"Belle?" Beast asks.

"Gaston! Don't!" Gaston has his sword hold over his head.

Gaston makes the strike, only Beast grabs his wrist mid strike. Beast gets up, glaring and growling at Gaston. Looks like he's been restored, Beast starts to fight back at Gaston.

"You two hide in the castle!" I start running. "I'll handle Gaston!"

We all run into the castle. Belle and Maurice seek shelter in the parlor while I make my way to the West Wing halls. heartless are spawning in this castle, some of them are the Gargoyles coming to life. That pretty much disturbed me.

I hardly had much time, so I use my Quasimodo Charm for D-linking. I strike hard at the Heartless. I do Sanctuary, channeling light magic. Pillars of light raise from the ground, spin at high speed and spread out it's radius, damaging the Heartless within. The Heartless closest to me dies, the Archers starts shooting their arrows at me.

I dodged the first few arrows, but the rest hits me. I cast Magnet to gather the Archers then cast Sparkra, channeling two rings of light. The Heartless within the inner ring suffer more damage.

When the Heartless are defeated, I move on into the hallway of the Beast's bedroom. More heartless spawn. I cast Holy Firaga, shooting massive fire with light energy. Quite opposite of Dark Firaga. I reach my full power and unleash Saint De Bell. "Feel my wrath!" I say as I channel the holy bell.

The Heartless ended quickly and so does my link with Quasimodo. I enter the Beasts room, head out for the balcony and start climbing the vines. I climb to the rooftop of the castle. When I reach the top, I see Beast cornered by Gaston.

"It's over Beast!" Gaston holds his sword high. "Belle is mine!"

Beast snarls hearing that. He bites at Gaston, which causes the 'great hunter' to stagger back. Beast swipes its claws, Gaston avoids the attack moving backwards, only he went too far and ends up fall over the edge of the roof into the trench pit below the bridge.

Beast pants slowly looking down seeing Gaston falls to his doom. "Well, looks like you've got this covered."

Beast turns to see me, arms crossed smiling a little. Beast walks up to me. "Don't think it's over already."

Me and Beast become startled hearing the voice. We both turn to see Izu sitting leg crossed on a Gargoyle above us. "Who are you?" Beast asks growling.

I noticing the Shadowmoon symbol on Izu's robe. "You...you're with the Shadowmoon."

"Hmph. You're a fast learner, aren't you?" Izu asks. "The name's Izu. I command the Heartless."

"Why are you here?" I ask.

"Why are you so concern with me? If I were you, I'd worry about other problems." Izu points over me and Beast. We both turn to the edge, then see a hand coming out. Someone's climbing. Not just someone. Gaston.

Me and Beast are on alert about the climber. "Consumed by jealousy and pride, he turned his heart to the darkness and became a Heartless." Gaston pulls himself up halfway to the roof. "The darkness will rule this castle and then the world!"

Gaston jumps up and lands on the roof, gun out. The skies turn into a swirling darkness. "Not while I draw breath!" I say, summoning my Keyblade.

Gaston makes the first attack, shoting Black Shot at me. I've been affected by a poison that slows me. I strike at Gaston, only my swings and movement are now slow. Gaston shoots at me and Beast. Beast swipes at Gaston then snaps his teeth at him.

The slow affect wore off on me then I do Sonic Blade. Gaston gets knocked back several times from my constant zooming. When I was done, I enter Critical Impact. Lightning energy courses through Gaston. Yikes, I didn't know the Shadowmoon gave him magic too. Gaston shoots at me, only when the bullet hits, lightning strikes at me in a surge circle. I strike at Gaston with brutal force then cast Ruinra.

"I will win Belle!" Gaston says as his rapidly shoots with his gun. Barrage. Me and Beast suffer damage from his shoots. In the cast, I cast Cura, which heals the both of us. I continue attacking Gaston until I reach full power and unleash Critical Impact.

Beast roars fierce, the very ground he stands shakes. Sure did some damage to Gaston. I do Strike Raid at Gaston then cast Quake. "I'll have your head mounted on my wall, Beast!" Darkness coats Gaston, he's clearly reaching full power. This isn't good.

Gaston leap charges at us with his sword. I cast Halo, which does damage to Gaston and heals me and Beast, then I cast Fira, which causes me to enter Spell Weaver. Beast and I attack Gaston head on. Gaston does Shadow Weave, unleashing a rave of darkness at us, then he resumes shooting at us. I cast Cura then continue striking.

Gaston was a tough fighter, but we've got him. Gaston stands in place, his gun in his hands ready to shoot. An aura of darkness glows on him for a second, then the moment it's gone, he collapses and draws his last breath.

After Gaston's defeat, the Heartless fled from the castle. Beast and Belle are now together again. Maurice is feeling a bit uncomfortable about Belle being in love with a beast, even one who treated him like a prisoner.

"I'm so glad you're all right." Belle says.

"Yes. I'm happy that you came back." Beast says.

"Of course I came back. I can't leave you alone against Gaston." Belle says.

I raise a hand. "Same here. Well, now that my job here is done, I should be hitting the road."

Belle and Beast looks at me. "You're leaving?" Belle asks.

"Yes. My friend is still out there and I have to find her." I say. "It's not like you're gonna need me here anymore, now that you have Beast to protect you."

Belle realizes that's true. Beast walks up to me, he gives a soft growl at first. "I'm sorry...about before." I realize what he meant, the hostility when we first met. Beast hands me an item. "Take this as part of my apology." The item is a Beast Charm. "You're welcome to visit...anytime."

"That must have been hard for you to say. But thanks." I pocket the charm. "Now you two play nice." I tur around and make my leave, waving at hand back. "See yea."


	17. Mother and the Missing Daughter

**A/N: Well, nice to see things have gone smoothly in Ville De Roses. But the search for Aqua is still very far. Let's see how interesting things will get in a new world.**

World: The Blazing Kingdom

* * *

I start walking through a forest. Nothing like the dreaded woods in Ville De Roses. This one is bright and sunny. I have entered a new world, still in search to find Aqua. At one point, I stop by a cliff, hanging against the part that's covered with vines, only as I lean back, I phase through and fall on my back on the ground.

That's when I realize the vines are really hiding an entrance to some cave. "What the?" I stand back up, looking deep into the cave to find some light. It's not a cave, it's a tunnel. I walk down the tunnel and into the light. To my surprise, the cave leads to some plateau with a tower in the center. Why the heck is there a hidden tower in these woods?

I approach to the tower, and start climbing it. Shouldn't there be a ladder? There's not even a door. As I climb, I hear some lady shouting 'Rapunzel' within the tower. She sounds really worried. That's not good.

I make it to the window on top and climb in. There, I see some lady in a red dress and black cloak, Gothel, ransacking the house. "Rapunzel! Rapunzel!"

"Hey!" The lady stops in place. "Is everything okay?"

"You!" Gothel comes at me and points a dagger at my face. "You're the one who took Rapunzel, aren't you?"

I hold my hands up and back, focusing on the dagger inches from my face. "Whoa! Take it easy, lady. I just got here." I pull the dagger away from my face. "Also, I have no idea what you're talking about. What's a Rapunzel?"

Gothel groans as she walks to the other end of the room. "Rapunzel's not a what? A who. She's my daughter and she's gone missing."

"She flew the coop?" I ask.

"I'm afraid so. I kept telling her that the world's a dangerous place, but then, she wants to go see some...floating lights and I told her she's not leaving this tower, ever and then-"

"Wait! Back up!" I interrupted. "You told her she's never leaving this tower? So that means...you kept her from seeing the outside world?" There was nothing but silence from the women. "Now I don't blame her for running away."

Gothel doesn't look too pleased to hear that. "How about instead of defending my daughter's rebellion, could you perhaps bring her back?"

I sigh crossing my arms in front of my chest. "All right, fine. But only because I know how it how it feels to lose a family member. So, what's she like?"

"She has long golden hair." Gothel says.

That's the only information I got. "I think you'll have to be more specific then that."

"Oh, no. Her hair is long, little REALLY long!" Gothel says. "Trust me, you'll know her when you see her."

I say nothing else. Is it really okay for me to accept a mission from this woman? I groan and turn around to jump off the tower. It's a long fall, but I land on one knee and hand and foot. I then stand up and begin my journey to find this Rapunzel.

As I journey to the Woods, I run into the Heartless. Great, there's Heartless in this world too. Now I'm starting to see why Gothel is protective of her own daughter. The only new Heartless here are the Guardsmans, which are the Archer's Heartless mounted on horses.

I take on the Heartless, fighting these creatures wasn't hard. I even had to block the arrows the Guardsman's shoot at me. I give that Guardsman a taste of a Quake spell. I defeated the Heartless then continue my journey through the woods.

As I walk though the woods, I notice these wanted posters hanging all over the trees. I take one of them. It's a poster about some thief known as 'Flynn Rider'. The dude has a fat nose.

"Man, what's with the dudes nose?" I ask myself.

I fold up the poster and put it in my pocket, continuing my journey through these woods. More Heartless spawn and I attack the creatures. I cast Magnera and enter Spell Weaver. I strike at the Heartless, then cast Sparkra. The Heartless become defeated, but more appears.

Large Body's and Defenders. How nice. My power deepens and I enter Heaven's Light. My swift and magical attacks within the Heaven's Light made an easy fight, phasing through the Heartless's defenses. They couldn't get a chance to fight back since my attacks just staggers them. I reach full power and unleash Heaven's Light. The rest of the Heartless becomes defeated from the blast rays of light.

I walk down the path in the forest, arrive at some small bar. I read the sign. "The Snuggly Duckling?" From a distance away, I can hear music and singing going on. It's coming from the bar. People singing something about having a dream...

I walk up to the bar and entered it. To my surprise, there's a musical going on in here. And the crowd is full of dangerous thugs. Their musical becomes interrupted, even ends with the sound of a record scratch, and everyone pays attention to me.

In the center on the table is a girl with long golden hair...wait. That's her! The wanted man, Flynn Rider, grabs Rapunzel and pulls her away. As that's happening, I notice her hair is still going and going and going. Geez! Now I see what Gothel meant by 'Long hair'.

I get a step forward only to be greeted by hundreds of knifes and swords. "What are you doing here?" Says some criminal with a hook. "You with the kingdom?"

I raise and eyebrow. "Kingdom? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here for the girl."

"You're gonna have to get through us." Says some man with the giant nose.

I stand there for a moment. My eyes follows Flynn and Rapunzel. I see them going behind the bar, ducking down. I return my attention to the crowd of thugs, summon my Keyblade, make my stance. "Bring it."

All the thugs makes their move, but the moment they do, I cast my Zero Gravira, sending the two dozen closest to me in the air, where the rest stops their charge and gasp. I can hear them chatting.

"How did he do that?" "Is that magic?" "Is he some kind of witch?" "That's impossible!"

I spin my Keyblade in front of me as the tip of it charges up in fire energy, then unleash Mega Flare, unleashing a large explosion bolt of fire. That blow all of the floating thugs away.

Those on the ground focus their eyes on the knocked out criminals, then turn their attention back to me in fear. I hold my Keyblade in front of me. "Anyone else wants a piece of me?" The rest of the criminals backs away, sheathing their weapons. My Keyblade vanishes. "Didn't think so."

I move the thugs out of my way, walking right into the bar. I walk over to the counter where I saw them hide in. Only when I look behind, there was nothing. They couldn't have just vanished. I look around for some clues. What I notice is that there's a lever with a duck on top and there's a large duck painted on the floor behind the bar.

I wonder...

I pull a lever, then a hidden passage right on that duck painting is revealed. I knew it. I walk right into the tunnel, the door closes behind me. I start running down the tunnel.

As I run, I hear voices and I see a fainted light. I can tell I'm right on their tail, even since I'm approaching to the start of Rapunzels long hair. Their voices are faint, but I can nearly make out what they're saying.

"What's that?" "Someone's coming!" "Flynn?" "Run for it!"

They come within my sight as soon as they start running. How nice, a chase. I would have stopped them by pulling the girl's hair, but they gathered it and start carrying it all in their arms. I chase after the two until we reach a dead end, which is a cliff right in front of a large wooden dam. Rapunzel is hiding behind Flynn while Flynn is looking at me with worry and fear.

I summon my Keyblade. "All right, you. Hand over the girl and no one gets hurt." I say. They both panic, but Flynn grabs Rapunzels frying pan and holds it out in front of him. I give a chuckle. "Really? A frying pan? I'm terrified. Don't hurt me." I say sarcastically.

Rapunzel looks up and gasps. "Wh-what about...that?"

Flynn looks up and gasps as well. I turn around looking up, I'm surprised as well. All over the dam, beavers. Not just beavers. They have Heartless symbols on them.

"Heartless." I barely say under my breath.

The Woodchuckers are chopping on the wood, they're gonna blow up the dam. One of them looks down at us and hisses loudly.

Five of the Woodchuckers jumps off of the dam, then three Archers spawns. I position myself. "Great!"

I fight off the Heartless. Those Woodchuckers are nasty biters, I'll give them that. I gather them all with Magnera, then I do Ars Arcanum, striking the Heartless with flurry of attacks. I defeated the Heartless. When the Ars Arcanum ends, I focus on the Woodchuckers on the dam, shooting my Fira spells at them.

My spells cause me to enter Spell Weaver. Most of the Woodchuckes dies, but more and more keeps on appearing and chewing up the dam. Defenders appear right in front of me, I focus on the Defenders, casting Zero Gravira then unleash Mega Flare. The defeated the Defenders.

However, it was too late for the Woodchuckers. Water is starting to burst through the dam, bit by bit. Rapunzel and Flynn doesn't hesitate to flee. Rapunzel uses her hair to swing her and Flynn to the ground.

I slowly back away as I see the damn's about to burst. "Oh crud..." Then the dam bursts. Millions of gallons of water rushes right through me and falls right into the canyon. Flynn and Rapunzel makes a run for it, with all of the water rushing up towards them.

They head towards a cave up ahead, where they might hope could be their only chance of escaping doom. The water splashes to the large pillar, knocking down the heavy boulder on top. As soon as Flynn and Rapunzel are in the cave, the large boulder from the pillar blocks their exit, with water still pouring in.

Flynn and Rapunzel tries to escape, only they realize that their little cave is a dead end. They are trapped with their life ending in a matter of minutes, seconds perhaps. They try to find a way out, but it's too dark for them to see.

"I can't see anything. It's too dark!" Flynn says.

The water is raising. It's already up to their knees, then waists. Rapunzel has an idea, but she isn't sure if it's a good one, cause that would mean her secret will be revealed. But what other choice does she have? The water's now up to their shoulders.

"Flynn?" Flynn looks at Rapunzel. "I have an idea, but...please don't freak out." Flynn looks confused, then Rapunzel begins to sing. "Flower gleam and glow! Let your power shine! Make the clock reverse! Being back what once was mine!" The water is up to their necks and shortly their chins. Rapunzel and Flynn had to tilt their heads close to the ceiling to catch their breath before becoming completely submerged.

That's when her hair starts to glow.

Flynn becomes shocked, even gasped which isn't really a good idea to do while underwater. Rapunzel's entire hair glows. Flynn notices a blocked hold, cause that's where Rapunzel's hair is being sucked too. That's gotta mean an escape for them.

They swim towards the blockage, Flynn starts pulling the rocks out of the way. The glow starts to fade and they're once again in total darkness. Then the light appears in front of them and the rest of the rocks and themselves gets pulled into the current.

They made it outside and land in a river. They pop out of the surface of water, gasping for air. Flynn and Rapunzel swims to land. As soon as they're on it, they lay down, panting. Resting to recover. After a brief moment, Flynn sits up in an instant.

"You're hair glows!" Flynn looks at Rapunzel freaking out. "Why does it glow!"

"Flynn. It doesn't just glow..." Rapunzel says, which confuses Flynn.

Back in the forest, Gothel goes for a walk. She arrives at this one corner where there's a hollow tree with a hidden door with the Snuggly Duckling symbol on it. Gothel just stands there, looking down at the door. She's aware it's a hidden door, then walks away.

Just then, she hears some rumbling from the door. On alert, she takes out her dagger, slowly creeping to the hidden door. Just then, the door opens and Gothel hides behind a boulder.

I climb out of the tunnel all wet, cough and gasping for air. I get on my feet. "Damn those infernal Heartless!" I give my coat a heavy single shake, which shakes a ton of water off of it. "I almost had her." I remove one of my boots, pouring all the water out of it. "But then they had to interfere!"

"You lost her?" I become startled then I see Gothel come out in the opening. "You've lost Rapunzel?"

"What are you doing here?" I ask, putting my boot back on.

"That's beside the point." Gothel says. "I told you to find Rapunzel and bring her home."

"I will, don't worry." I say. "I'm just getting started."

I make my leave, with Gothel just watching me from behind. She gives a dark frown. "Hmph...You better."

I continue my search through the woods. Soon enough, night takes the skies, but that doesn't stop my search. The Heartless spawning has gone downhill as I travel at night. I wonder why. Doesn't make any sense. Nighttime is the darkness yet the Heartless ratio is low. How come?

Rapunzel and Flynn alone in the woods in front of a campfire. Rapunzel is telling Flynn about her secret of her magical hair. She was born with this gift and the not only does the hair glow, but it can also heal the sick and injured, and the reason it's long is because she can never cut. Once the hair is cut, it loses it's powers and turns brown.

After explaining everything, Flynn and Rapunzel are on alert, for they hear a twig snap. Rapunzel gets behind Flynn, worried. "What was that?"

Flynn holds out the frying pan in front of him at the direction the noise came. But he wasn't prepared to face the monster that attacks them, which is a giant chameleon Heartless.

Stealth Sneak


	18. The Lost Princess

**A/N: Rapunzel is a slippery little girl, isn't she? If only her hair is. Ha, I remember how her hair use to get caught all the time. No wonder the movie was called Tangled, cause her hair is getting all tangled up. Ha ha ha.**

World: The Blazing Kingdom

* * *

I fight off the Heartless that comes in my way. The Horsemans are getting tough since they shoot at distances and the horses they ride on and run while they're attacking. I stand in place, channeling time power at the tip of my Keyblade, then unleash Lethal Frame. In a flash, I'm at one place then I'm right past the Horseman with my Keyblade held out to my right.

What really happened was I froze time and during that time, I deliver multiple blows at the Horseman. When time continues, light slashes cuts the Heartless and destroys it.

I stand for a brief moment to rest after the battle. I'm still wondering in these woods at night looking for Rapunzel. These woods look alike at night. My chances of finding that girl are slim, unless she left a trail of her hair. Odds of that happening are...pretty high.

Just then, I hear a high-pitched scream. I can tell that's Rapunzel. I make a run for it, heading for the direction the screaming came from. I run for a minute until I arrive at my destination. To my worries and surprise, the Stealth Sneak has Rapunzel and Flynn cornered.

"Oh fiddlesticks." I summon my Keyblade and throw it at the Heartless. It hurts the Stealth Sneak, which earns its attention. I summon my Keyblade again, taking my fighting stance and attack the Heartless.

I start by using my Beast Charm. My form is my trench coat is sleeveless like they're ripped off, more muscular, razor sharp teeth and claws and Dual Wielding Keyblades. I make vicious brutal attacks on the Stealth Sneak. Stealth Sneak sure did take the hits pretty well, staggering from each of them. I cast Quakera, sending a rave underneath the earth, a trail of dust heading towards the heartless. Upon reaching it's target, three large earth spikes rise out of the ground from the Heartless.

Stealth Sneak does camouflage, turning invisible. Now the heartless is moving around. I stay on my guard, being aware of my surroundings. That thing could be anywhere. Stealth Sneak attacks me from all sides. I constantly cast Cura on myself to stay alive. Soon enough, the Stealth Sneak becomes visible and I continue attacking. I next do Howling Moon, roaring so fierce the ground shakes.

Stealth Sneak strikes at me, then it shoots its tongue at me. I continue attacking Stealth Sneak. I do Razor Rose, shooting several razor winds of rose petals. The Stealth Sneak sure didn't take that move very well. I reach my full power and do Enchanted Rose.

I summon large earth pillars all around me, with thorny vines wrapped around them that have roses blossoming out of them. The vines takes over the ground I stand. I plant my two Keyblades on the center, then I thrust them into the earth with full force, causing the vines and roses to explode unleashing thousands of thorns and sharp petals.

Stealth Sneak becomes destroyed. I turn to Rapunzel and Flynn, who are still armed against me. "Stay back! Don't make me...use this." Flynn says, holding the frying pan in front of him.

"Seriously?" I grab the frying pan and toss it aside. "I'm done playing these games. Hand over the girl!"

"I'm not going with a thief like you!" Rapunzel yells at me.

"Thief? I can ensure you I'm not a criminal." I say. "I'm only here to take you home."

Rapunzel is surprised to hear that. "Wha-what? My mother sent you to take me home?" Wow. It's impressive she figured that out. "I'm not going home! I'm going to see those lanterns."

"Lanterns? I heard it was floating lights." I say.

"Not really. It's actually some lantern thing the kingdom do for their lost princess." Flynn says.

"They appear every year on my birthday and I just...it feels like they're meant for me." It's surprising to hear that. "Tomorrow's my birthday and all I wanted is to see those lanterns up close."

I'm silent for a moment, just taking all over that in. "I see..." I turn my attention to Flynn. "But just what are you doing with this criminal?" I give Flynn a close look. "And frankly you look nothing like your wanted poster."

Flynn looks offended. "What?" I take out the poster in my pocket and show it to him. Flynn takes it, looking disappointed. "Oh man! They just can't get my nose right!" Flynn holds the poster next to his head, pointing at the picture. "I look NOTHING like this."

I just roll my eyes, turning my attention to Rapunzel. "He's my guide. He's going to take me to see those lanterns."

"Considering you've been attacked by the heartless twice, I can see he's doing a fabulous job." I say.

Flynn is offended to hear that. "Hey!"

"Anyways, I'll help you see those lanterns, IF I take you home to your tower afterwards." I say.

"That was actually the deal I made with Flynn." Rapunzel says. "So, what's your name?"

"Patrick." I answered. "I guess we'll rest up for tonight then we'll head for the kingdom in the morning."

Rapunzel and Flynn gets some rest for the night, I just stay up keeping an eye out for any of the Heartless. All though I doubt any of them would be able to come and face me after taking out that large one back there.

As I stand guard, I hear rustling in the bushes. I'm on high alert, turning my attention to the direction of the sound. I slowly stand up holding my Keyblade out, I have a feeling it could be another Heartless. I slowly pace myself towards the direction of the sound, eyes locked on the bushes where I believe the figure is hiding. Another rustle happens, that's when I leap in and strike.

I have the figured beneath me, my Keyblade at it's neck...or her neck I should say. To my surprise, the figure is Gothel. "What the?"

"Oh! What are you doing? Trying to give a worried mother a heart attack?" Gothel says.

I get off of Gothel so she can stand up. "What are you doing here?" I ask. "Are you following me?"

"Oh heavens, no. I'm just...making sure Rapunzel is safe." Gothel says.

"Not very convincing." My Keyblade vanishes from my hands.

"Whatever. Anyways, now that we've found Rapunzel, I'll be taking her home." Gothel heads towards the camp, but shortly stops when I stand in her way.

"Sorry, but she's doing to the kingdom." I say.

Gothel is not very pleased to hear that. "What? She can't go there!"

"I'm afraid I have no choice. It's her birthday and she wants to see the lanterns, that's what the floating lights are." Hearing that worries Gothel even more. I can tell she knows something. "Are you hiding something?" I say leaning my face into her suspiciously.

"What? No! No! No! I'm just...concerned for her own safety." Gothel says.

"I don't think it's her safety. It's about...her hair isn't it?" Gothel is speechless, looks horrified. "I knew it...you are hiding something. The kingdom has something to do with Rapunzel, doesn't it? Well, I'm about to find out."

I turn and leave Gothel, returning to the camp. Gothel gives a mean look. "So you want me to be the bad guy? Fine!" Darkness coats Gothel. "Now I'm the bad guy!"

After my little chat with Gothel, I get some rest for the night. First thing in the morning the three of us makes our way towards the Kingdom. I haven't seen Gothel since that night and frankly I'm surprised she didn't try to take Rapunzel while we were all asleep. What is she up to...?

Heartless appears everywhere in the forest as we head towards the kingdom. Rapunzel and Flynn stays behind me as I take on the Heartless, one-by-one. The Heartless in this forest were no challenge. If anything, Flynn could have taken them out with that frying pan of his.

Soon enough, we made it all the way to the kingdom. It's a pretty big city, and I can see they are real interested in the sun. Seeing sun symbols everywhere. Hey, maybe this is why the world is called 'The Blazing Kingdom'.

While Flynn and Rapunzel are going to goof off around the kingdom, I've decided to do a little digging around, see what I can figure out if there's a connection between Rapunzel and this kingdom.

I just walk around the kingdom, asking people questions about Rapunzel. So far, they know nothing about her. Nothing familiar about Rapunzel to this kingdom. I think for a moment...maybe I'm getting the wrong idea.

"What's this lantern thing about?" I ask a citizen.

"Well, today's the birthday of the king and queens daughter, the princess." The citizen explains. That surprises me a bit, it's also Rapunzel's birthday. "But 18 years ago, she was taken away. So now, every year on her birthday, we all unleash lanterns in the sky in hope for the lost princess to return."

The date of the princess's disappearance doesn't capture if it's Rapunzel since I never learned her age, but the lanterns being released on her birthday does has some kind of connection.

"Is there any picture of this lost princess?" I ask.

"There's a memorial fountain. A picture of her as a baby is engraved in stone." The citizen tells me.

The lost princess as a baby. It's not much of an answer, but I guess it's the closest I've got. I go to this fountain somewhere in this kingdom. It was easy to spot cause there are a ton of citizens in line with a flower, as a gift to their lost princess. I look at the baby in the engraving.

The baby has long golden hair, long for her toddler age. I get a close look, she does bear a resemblance to Rapunzel. Could it be...

"Hey, Patrick!" I flinched and turn to see Rapunzel and Flynn. "Thanks for bringing us here."

Flynn notices my shocked expression. "You okay, man?"

"Ye-yeah. I'm fine." I say. "Flynn...did you ever think who could be this...lost princess?"

Flynn thinks for a moment then just shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. It could be anyone."

"Right...right. Well, I have a theory who it could be." I turn around, looking at the crown the princess is wearing. "But we need to get that crown."

"Crown?" Rapunzel takes out a satchel, reaching for something inside. "You mean this crown?"

I turn facing Rapunzel. To my surprise, the crown she's holding is exactly like the one in the picture. Flynn is pretty surprised too.

"My satchel! You had it all along!?" Flynn says.

Rapunzel and Flynn ends up getting into an argument. Flynn saying how he thought it was back in the tower and she had it all along while Rapunzel is defending herself saying she's afraid he'll bail her.

Had enough of this, I snatch the crown. "Oh for crying out. Gimme that!" I take a deep breath then I place the crown on Rapunzel's head. "Okay, now put this on and..." I put my hands on Rapunzel's shoulders, moving her right next to the picture of the lost princess. I step back turning my face at the two. "Yes...yes! That's it!"

"What's it?" Flynn asks.

I grab Flynn, holding him in front of me. "Look!" I make Flynn look back and forth at Rapunzel and the lost princess. "Don't you see? SHE'S the lost princess."

Flynn gasps. "You're right! She is!"

Rapunzel looks at the picture of the lost princess. "What? ...Well, it kind of does look like me but...I don't think I'm really..."

"Now it all makes sense." I say. "Your 'mother' is keeping you in that tower all these years to prevent you from learning who you really are. I'm also guessing that women is the one who kidnapped you."

"Okay...so what now?" Flynn asks.

I turn my attention to the castle. "We just need to get the king and queen to see Rapunzel. But first, we have to get into that castle somehow." I take a brief moment to think of a plan to get into that castle. "I've got it!"

For a plan, me and Rapunzel will act as two citizens who captured the criminal Flynn Rider. Flynn didn't like the plan but I talked him into it...by that, I mean threatened him.

Rapunzel and I walk up to the doors of the kingdom with Flynn tied up. The two guards blocks our path with their spears. "Halt! State your business!"

"We're here to see the king and queen to turn in this criminal, Flynn Rider." I say.

"That's the criminal all right, but we received no authorization about the thief being delivered to the king and queen." The guard says.

"But, we've spent all night capturing this guy. Please let us through." Rapunzel begs.

"Just show us the order agreement and we'll let you pass." The guard says.

"We...don't have the order agreement anymore. We lost it." Rapunzel says innocently.

"Then I'm afraid we can't let you pass, ma'am. I'm sorry." The guard says.

I walk up to the guard, grab him by the chest, lifting him off of his feet and glaring at him in a fit of rage. "Listen here you little nuisance! Do you have any idea what I've been through capturing this troublemaker!? I had to fight my way through a bar full of villains! Got caught in a dam that bursted nearly taking out my life! Battle against a giant chameleon and a penguin with a machine gun! Okay, I'm exaggerating about the penguin, but the point is, we've been through a lot and we didn't come all this way just because we didn't have the order agreement! I had to shove that thing down a bears mouth and say 'Here mr. bear! Why don't you eat this since we don't need it when we are fighting just to stay alive because of you!' We are delivering this man to the king and queen! So, let us through or I'm gonna give you an Atomic Texas Wedgie so severe your biscuits...no scratch that, your great-grandkids biscuits! Will! Burn! GOT IT!?"

The guard looks beyond nervious, overwhelmed in fear even. "Y-y-yes sir. Sorry sir. Let them pass!"

I let go of the guard and he allows us to enter the castle. We walk right in, making our way through the hallways heading towards the throne room where we believe the king and queen should be at.

"Did you really went through all that trouble just for us?" Rapunzel asks me.

"Yes, but it was really nothing...except for that dam part, I wasn't pleased facing it." I say.

In an empty hallway, we untied Flynn then make our way towards the throne room. As soon as we arrived at the throne room, we were prepared with what we're seeing.

The King and Queen are huddling in fear and the person in front of him, wielding a dagger pointed at them, is Gothel.

"Mother?" Rapunzel says completely shocked.

Gothel turns. "Oh hello, Rapunzel. I'm sorry you have to see this. All I'm doing is ridding the world of its dark evilness!"

"The only thing dark and evil is you!" I say. "I was right! You did steal Rapunzel when she was a baby!"

"So you figured it out. I expect that from the Keybearer." Gothel turns facing us. "Now if you excuse me, I must take Rapunzel to a place where no one can ever find her again!"

I stand in front of Rapunzel, shielding her. "If you want her..." I summon my Keyblade, making my stand to fight. "You're gonna have to go through me!"

Gothel chuckles evilly. "Such arrogance to believe...that you alone could defeat me!" Gothel reveals the darkness coating her. Flynn takes Rapunzel to the king and queen to keep her safe.

My battle against Gothel begins.

I make the first few strikes, then cast Thundara. Gothel strikes at me with her dagger, then summons three Soldiers. How interesting, she can control the Heartless. I focus on the Soldiers, doing Sonic Blade. I rush right through the Soldiers. For the final blast I aim at Gothel, for all the Soldiers are wiped out.

"You think you're clever?" I enter Fever Pitch. Gothel casts two dark orbs. "You're wrong!" The orbs rushes towards me. Next, I do Ars Arcanum. Gothel staggers from my flurry attacks. When Ars Arcanum ends, I cast Ruinra then Watera. Gothel casts Blazing Nova, releasing a nova of flaming energy.

I reach my full power and unleash Fever Pitch. Gothel isn't too happy. "I did not live for centuries just to die!" Gothel tosses her dagger in the air and it floats in dark magic. The dagger multiples into hundreds then Gothel causes them to rain down on me. I only deflected and dodged the first few then I get hit by the rest. Luckily I survived it and I cast Cura to heal myself.

I use my Elsa Charm, activating my D-linking. I strike at Gothel with my frost attacks. Gothel summons two Defenders and a Phoenix, a Heartless in the form of a flaming bird. I cast Blizzarga at the Defender, then do Snownado, channeling a tornado of ice and snow. The Phoenix does its fire breath on me until the Snownado defeats it. Gothel attacks me but I block it then I counterattack with Freeze, freezing that women completely solid.

I focus on the last Defender, striking with my icy attacks. The Defenders attacks me with a sweep, only I dodge back and cast Triple Blizzarga at it. Now it's just Gothel and I, so I finish her off by unleashing Let It Go.

In the end, I knock Gothel's dagger right out of the hands. The dagger lands right in front of Flynn and Rapunzel. Gothel looks at me with worry and fear. She backs up as I walk towards her, until Gothel stumbles and falls back. I stand in front of her, pointing my Keyblade at her.

"No! No! No! ...Okay! Okay! I get it!" Gothel shields her head in her arms, cowering. "I'll give Rapunzel back to her real family! I'll go somewhere far away and never return! You'll never see me again!" I just raise an eyebrow hearing that. Should I believe her? Gothel gives a silent chuckle and evil grin. She sweep kicks, knocking me down. Gothel stands on top of me, pulling a dagger out of her dress. "You are so gullible! Just what I expect from a Keybearer!" Gothel holds the dagger above my chest, pulling it back over her head.

"Hey Gothel!" Gothel turns her head to see Flynn. Only she becomes horrified at what she's saying. Flynn Rider grabbing hold of Rapunzels hair and in a single slice, cuts it off with the dagger.

Gothel drops the dagger out of her hand, luckily it wasn't falling on me. "NO!" Rapunzels hair turns brown, and all that cut off hair turns brown as well. Gothel grabs what remains of the golden hair in attempt to save the magic, only the hair in the arms turns brown as well. "No! No! No!" Gothel drops the hair as she starts to weaken. She notices her arm turns old. "What have you done?" Gothels entire body turns old, and her hair turns white. "What have you done?!"

I get back on my feet, grab Gothel by the cloak and then toss her right out of the nearest window. It even shattered the window. Gothel falls right out of the castle screaming 'No!' Gothel dies as she falls. Her cloak flaps through the winds in the fall and crashes to the ground, releasing all that's left of Gothel: A pile of dust.

When that was done, Rapunzel was reunited with her mother and father: the King and Queen. They were happy that their lost princess has returned. Rapunzel explains to them about Flynn helping her out to the kingdom. Long story short: The criminal charges of Flynn Rider were dropped.

Nighttime soon falls and as a celebration for Rapunzel's return, they unless a thousand lanterns in the sky. Flynn and I are in the crown, and we release lanterns of our own. Flynn and I look at Rapunzel at the terrace of the castle. Even far away we could see how happy she is.

"Looks like Rapunzel's dream has come true." Flynn says.

"I'd say it's a lot more then that." I say. "Well, I should get going."

I walk away, only to be stopped by Flynns talk. "Wait? You're leaving?"

I turn to face Flynn. "I have to. I'm looking for someone, who left me a long time ago...and I have to find her."

"Oh...I see." Flynn walks up to me. "Here, take this." Flynn hands me a Rapunzel Charm. "I wish you best of luck on your journey."

I pocket the charm. "Thanks. Tell Rapunzel best of luck with her real family."

After that, I make my leave, continuing my journey.


	19. Land of Fairies

**A/N: Glad to get out that en-tangled-ment mess. Heh, heh, heh. Good one Kataang9. That Rapunzel world probably wasn't as silly as it was in the movie, but it would be a neat world to visit in Kingdom Hearts, wouldn't it?**

* * *

I entered another world though this one seems a bit strange. It's covered with a very thick fog. I could barely see past my own nose. I'm still on my search to find Aqua, there's still no sign of her, or the Shadowmoon.

The fog starts to lighten up. When it does, I noticing something strange about me. My trench coat is missing and my shirt and pants are made out of leafs and flower petals. And on top of that, I seem to have wings. That one surprises me the most.

The fog finally lifts. All I'm seeing is blue skies...wait, skies. I suddenly look down, too see nothing but water and a tiny island. Just as I feared: I'm in the air.

"Oh shit." I say, then I suddenly start to fall. I scream as I fall, then I suddenly calm when I remember that I have wings. I look back at them, noticing they're making no movement. I try to make them flap, but there's no response. "Come on! Flap! Flap you stupid wings!" After five seconds of trying, I resume screaming.

Down below, Tinker Bell and Rosetta are floating a few inches off the ground. "Tink, I don't think this is such a good idea." Rosetta says.

"It'll be fine, Rosetta. Just need to find some lost things that'll help us stop those creatures." Tinker Bell says.

"But, Tink we're not fighters. All we do is bring seasons to the mainland." Rosetta says.

Tinker bell stops and turns to face Rosetta. "Well we've got to do something. I mean, what do you think, warriors are just gonna fall out of the sky?" Rosetta says nothing, just sighs. My scream reaches the two girls. They seem confused at first then look around. "Do you hear something?"

My screaming becomes stronger to them. They both look up, only as soon as they do, I crash landed, head first, on the ground in between them. Rosetta and Tinker Bell gasp at the sight of me. They're mostly shocked at my landing.

I quietly moan as my body falls back on the ground. "Ouch..." I say.

"Ooookay..." Tinker Bell looks up hopefully. "What do you think, pirate treasure are just gonna fall out of the sky?"

Tinker bell holds her hands out, smiling with hope, then they die down when nothing falls. "It doesn't work that way, sugar." Rosetta says.

"Well then how does it work!?" Tinker Bell says, upset.

Rosetta sighs rolling her eyes while I moan on the ground. Rosetta bends down, grabbing my hands. "Are you all right, sugar cube?"

I'm on my feet, only I can't move and I'm in pain. "Oh! ...Not really." Rosetta and Tinker Bell was about to say something until I jerk my back straight, causing my vertebrae to crack loudly. "Ow! ...I'm gonna feel that in the morning." I give my torso a hard twist, cracking my bones again. After that, I regain movement but my body still feels sore. "Oh...that's better."

Rosetta and Tinker bell looks at me strangely. "I don't believe we've seen you here in Pixie Hollow." Rosetta says.

"Come to think of it, I don't believe we've seen a fairy like you." I raise an eyebrow. _Fairy_? I thought. I guess that would explain the wings. "What kind of fairy talent are you?"

"Talent? ...I'm uh..." I try to think of an excuse. Lucky thing the sound of girls screaming bought me a distraction.

"The others!" Tinker Bell and Rosetta flies away.

"Wha-wait for me!" I say, running towards them. I'm well aware I have wings but I don't really know how to use them.

I chase after Tinker Bell and Rosetta through the Flower Field. At the end of the path, Butterfly Land, four other fairies: Fawn, Silvermist, Iridessa and Vidia are cornered, surrounded by Unversed on both land and air. Archravens, Wild Bruisers, Shadow Screechers which are Unverses in the form of a bat, and Mandrakes.

"Uh...Fawn. You're an animal fairy. Do something." Silvermist says.

"But I don't know how to control these creatures...I don't even think they're animals." Fawn says.

Tinker, Rosetta shows up to see their friends in a situation. "Oh no! This isn't good." Rosetta says.

A minute later, I approach, nearly out of breath. I'm still recovering from my 'crash landing'. Once I regain breath, I notice the girls are in trouble. "Unversed!" I summon my Keyblade. "I got this!"

I rush towards the Unversed. The creatures turn around, targeting me. While I stand in place, positioned to fight, Tinker Bell stares at my Keyblade.

"A Key...blade? ...Is he..." Rosetta turns her attention to Tinker Bell.

"Something the matter, sweet pea?" Rosetta asks.

Tinker Bell snaps out of her mind looking at Rosetta. "What? Oh, nothing. Nothing."

I fight off the Unversed. I start the fight by gathering them with Magnera. That's actually my back up plan. I originally tried to use my Rapunzel Charm, but that nor my Wayfinder would respond. I'm guessing my D-linking must be disabled in this world. I fight the Unversed while they're gathered in the magnet, then I give them a taste of Whirlwind, holding my Keyblade back charging at first then whirls off of my feet, only a few inches of the ground as I attack upwards, with wind-based attack.

Few of the Unversed are defeated and I enter Fever Pitch. The Unversed fights back as I attack. I only got hit a couple of times, I do use Faith, casting a ring of light beneath me, hurting the Unversed and healing my wounds. The Wild Bruisers attacks me hard, I evade their attacks then counterattack them until they're defeated. I finish off the Unversed by unleashing Fever Pitch.

My Keyblade vanishes as I stand down on the fighting. The four fairies approaches to me. "Thanks for saving us back there."

"I thought we were all goners." Iridessa says.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, it was nothing."

Rosetta and Tinker Bell joins in with us. "That was amazing back there." Rosetta says cheery. "Are you some kind of warrior fairy?"

"Uh..." That gave me the idea. "Yeah! That's it! I'm a warrior fairy."

The fairies except for Tinker bell gathers around me, chatting about stuff like 'that's amazing' or 'You're really strong/great'

"We have been having trouble with these creatures for a while." Silvermist says. "It's only a matter of time before they start attacking the Pixie Dust Tree."

"That reminds me. How come you fell right out of the sky? Did you run out of pixie dust?" Rosetta asks.

I look confused hearing that "Pixie...dust? What is that?"

The fairies gasps, even Tinker Bell. Not cause she's surprised but is trying to help my cover cause she does know something about me. "You've ever heard of pixie dust?" Iridessa says.

"Not really. We don't even have this...Pixie Dust Tree you spoke of." I say.

"Well, if you never had pixie dust then how did you fall out of the sky?" Vidia says.

I nervously rub the back of my head, trying to come up with a story. "Uh...well, you see...I was riding...riding on..." I look up. To my luck I notice how big the birds are that are flying above us. "My bird...Yeah. I was flying on my bird but then...I wind blew me off. case closed."

"Oh...well, we should take you to the Pixie Dust Tree. Queen Clarion would want to meet you." Fawn says.

The five fairies take flight, but shortly stopped when they notice me and Tinker Bell are still grounded. "Oh, that's right. You can't fly." Silvermist says.

"No, it's okay guys. I'll take care of him." Tinker Bell says. The other fairies go ahead and leave me with Tinker Bell. As soon as we're alone, Tinker Bell speaks. "It's good to see you again."

I look at Tinker bell confused. "Again? ...I don't know what you're..." Getting a look at Tinker Bell, I noticed something familiar about her. "Wait a minute..." I look closely at her face. "...Tink? ...Tinker Bell?" Tinker Bell nods. "Wow...I haven't seen you since Hollow Bastion." I look at Tinker Bell head to toe. "You're...a lot bigger then I remembered. At least I can finally understand what you're saying."

"Well...that kind of hurts. So how's Sora doing?" Tinker Bell says.

"Ah, you know. The usual." I look around. "So...this is Neverland?"

"Sort of. This is Pixie Hollow. It's my hometown." Tinker Bell says. "So, what brings you here...Patrick was it?"

"Yeah...I'm looking for someone." I say.

"Oh yeah. I believe you did mention that...but didn't you say she's dead?" Tinker Bell asks.

"I thought she was, but then I recently learned she's still alive. And now I'm searching for her." I explain. Me and Tinker Bell are silent for a moment, then I speak again. "Anyways, what are the Unversed doing here?"

"Unversed? Is that what they are? I thought they were the Heartless." Tinker Bell says. "I honestly don't know why they're here. They appeared a few weeks back. We've been having trouble preparing for Spring cause of these creatures."

"Well, I guess I can lead you all a hand while I'm here." I say.

"That'll be great. Let's go see Queen Clarion." Tinker Bell flies off.

"He-hey! Tink!" Tinker Bell stops and looks back. "In case you've forgotten: I can't fly!"

"Oh...right." Tinker Bell soars towards me until she's right behind me. "All you need is a little bit of pixie dust..." Tinker Bell takes out a beg, scoops out a handful of gold dust and sprinkles some on my wings. My wings spread and sparkles with the gold dust. Tinker Bell lands. "Okay. Flying is simple." Tinker Bell puts a hand on the center of my back where the wings are attached. "Can you feel where I'm touching?"

"Yeah..." I say.

"The muscles right here on your back are connected to your wings. Use them to try to flap them." Tinker Bell says.

"All right then..." I concentrate on my back muscles, harder every second. My wings give a single twitch. Then another...and another and repeat.

"Okay! Good! Try again but faster. Flutter them." Tinker Bell says.

"Got it." I focus harder. My wings flutters, only for a second then stops. I try hard until Tinker Bell gives me a hard shove. "What the!" Next thing I know I'm launched into the air.

Tinker Bell just stands back, enjoying the moment, then suddenly worries when she can't see me in the sky. Tinker Bell rushes into the air, looking around. "Patrick! Where are you? You okay?"

Tinker Bell can't find me in the air, but she does hear my yelling. She turns to see I'm flying around willy-nilly. I'm flying all around the air with no control of my wings. Tinker Bell just focuses her attention on me.

"How...how do you stop these things!?" I shout.

Tinker Bell couldn't take her eyes off of me. She tries to hold back her laugh, but she couldn't and ends up bursting in laughter. She's really not helping my case, is she?

"I'm sorry. Sorry...It's just so funny!" Tinker Bell continues to laugh at my pitiful flying lessons.

Minutes have passed, mostly cause it took a while for Tinker Bell to get over laughing at me. The rest she helps me with learning how to fly steadily. At night fall, I'm soaring straight through the skies with excitement.

"I can't believe it! This is amazing!" I say.

Tinker Bell soars by my side. "I know! Right! Let's go to the Pixie Dust Tree."

Tinker Bell stops soaring then flies off. She heads towards the the Pixie Dust Tree which is hundreds of yards away. Me and Tinker Bell are just flying at medium speed.

"How about we fly faster?" I ask.

Tinker Bell looks surprised to hear that. "Well...if you think you're ready."

Tinker Bell flies faster, mostly doubling her speed. The young fairy is lost at her thought as she flew. She looks back but notices I'm not behind her, but next to her instead.

"You call this fast? I've seen turtles move faster." I say.

"You know, you should meet my friend Vidia. I think you two would get along well." Tinker Bell says.

I give a smirk with a single chuckle. We fly for about ten minutes and we're already arriving at Tinker Bells home. "Here we are! Pixie Hollow!" Tinker Bell says.

We fly by all of the working fairies below us. The water fairies, then the garden fairies, paint fairies, then her people the tinkers. We are approaching the Pixie Dust Tree when Tinker Bell realizes something.

"Hey, Patrick. Do you know how to land?" Tinker Bell asks.

I look at Tinker a bit surprised to hear that. "Why yes, I learned how to land when flying at human camp." I say sarcastically then I shout in obvious irritating. "NO OF COURSE I DON'T! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK!?"

Tinker Bell stutters, trying to figure out what to say for my next lesson. But then she notices how close we are to the tree. "Oh...it's too late...sorry, best of luck to you!"

Tinker Bell starts landing while I'm waving my arms and kicking my legs. "No! Tinker Bell! Wait!" I look to see how awfully close I am to the tree. "No! NO! AHH!"

BANG!

I crash into the tree. The impact was so hard the crash notice sounded like a thunder boom. All the animals responded to the sound, raise their heads and ran off, fly off for those with wings. The fairies looks directly at the tree where the sound came from.

I'm crashed into the tree, my body twitching from the pain. Tinker Bell is on the ground, seeing my crash landing. "Oh..." She inhales sharply.

The other fairies gathers around. Tinker Bells friends gathers around her. "Tink? What was that?" Rosetta asks.

"Uh...well..." I slip right off of the tree, falling down. My body left a giant mark on that tree where I crashed into. I fall and crashed to the ground on my back, in front of Tinker Bell and her friends. "Just a simple...flying lesson."

I raise my head looking at Tinker Bell. "Not very simple...that was horrible, Tink."

Tinker Bell laughs. "Sorry about that."

Silvermist and Fawn grabbed each of my hands and helps me stand up. As soon as I'm on my feet my body is hurting again. "Ow...oh great." I straighten my vertebrae again then twisted my torso. The pain passes. "If this keeps up I'm gonna be in the chiropractors all week."

"We'll work on your landing later." Tinker Bell says. "Oh, girls. This is Patrick. Patrick, these are my friends: Fawn. Silvermist. Iridessa. Rosetta and Vidia."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you girls." I say. This is a first, making six new friends in one world.

"We're so glad you're here. Queen Clarion wants to meet you." Fawn says.

The six fairies escorts me through the Pixie Dust Tree to meet their queen. Since I had to fly up to the tree, the girls had to help me with my landing. Was rough at first but at least I land on my feet and didn't crash into anything. The fairies takes me into the Pixie Dust Tree, there a grand fairy with a golden dress with gold wings awaits.

Queen Clarion herself.

The six fairies stands in a circle around me, bowing before Queen Clarion. Queen Clarion floats in front of me. "So, you're the young fairy who fought off those creatures...Well, welcome to Pixie Hollow."

I give a respectful bow. "Thank you, your uh...Fairy-ness."

Queen Clarion chuckles. "Well...as Tinker Bell and her friends told you, these creatures are becoming a threat to Pixie Hollow."

"I am well aware of the Unversed, Queen Clarion. I have faced these creatures several times. They are nothing I can't handle." I say.

"Well. If you please, would you mind taking care of them?" Queen Clarion asks.

"As you wish, milady." I say.

After my meeting with the queen, I leave the Throne Chamber of the Pixie Dust Tree. The six fairies are in flight in front of me.

"Queen Clarion sure has taken a liking to you." Silvermist says.

Hearing that made me feel pleased, but then starts to put me into an uncomfortable zone if her 'liking' goes any further. "We'll start first thing in the morning." Iridessa says.

I nod. The fairies leave, but Tinker Bell is the only one who remains behind. "You can crash into my place." Tinker Bell flies off a few feet then stops and looks back at me. "Just don't literally crash into it when you land."

"I get it. I get it. I need to work on my landing." I spread my wings and fly with Tinker Bell to her home.


	20. The Warrior Fairy

**A/N: Pixie Hollow is quite an interesting world. Would you say it makes sense that I cannot do the D-linking in that world. I'd say the reasoning is cause I'm in the form of a fairy. Wouldn't it be nice if Pixie Hollow was one of the worlds in Kingdom Hearts? If only Neverland would agree.**

World: Pixie Hollow

* * *

Tinker Bell and I fly across the Tinker lands of Pixie Hollow. I'm surprised to see all of the contraptions they would have given to the nature of this world. Then again, all the machineries are made out of nature stuff like leafs and vines and wood and such. But are also made out of ordinary objects such a combs, brushes, bolts and screws.

"What's with all the objects?" I asked.

"They're called lost things. They are stuff that gets lost from the mainland, and they end up here on Neverland." Tinker Bell says.

"Guess that explains why people can never find what they lost." I whispered to myself. I look around when something captures my attention. A big store building with a wallet for a ceiling. I fly down looking closely at the time. I can hear Tinker Bell floating next to me. "Hey wait a minute! This is my wallet! I thought I lost this thing three years ago!"

"What? There's no way it's yours." Tinker Bell says.

I give a grumpy look then I fly inside the building. The other fairies inside, mostly close to the door, were surprised to see me. I float right in front of the giant drivers license shown in the wallet. Tinker Bell is next to me. I face her and gesture my hand at the license which shows my identification.

"Okay...maybe it is yours." Tinker Bell says.

"You got that right. And I just cancelled those credit cards." I look back at my drivers license. "Oh man, I've got to get my drivers license renewed."

Once that little moment was done, me and Tinker Bell flies to her house. I was surprised at what 'lost thing' was her house. "So your house is a teapot?"

"That's right." Tinker Bell opens the door and flies right in.

"I'm never drinking tea again." I say bummed then I walk right into the house.

I went to sleep in the giant teapot. As I sleep, I dream more about my past with Aqua. The strangest part was I started dreaming about her and my young-self in Pixie Hollow, soaring through the skies, dancing in the air with our fairy wings. Okay, that dancing was more like hugging or holding hands while spinning in a circle. What's mostly strange about this is that I know that me and Aqua have never been to this world. Maybe Aqua has during her travels before she was taken away, but I know for certain Pixie Hollow wasn't one the worlds she took me to.

Why am I having this dream? Could this be a desire? Am I wishing I could be here with Aqua? At my young age when she's my mother? Aqua still feels like a mother to me, even through I'm probably older then her physically. But age doesn't matter does it? But Aqua is really around 30 years of age in time and date. Why hasn't she aged when I saw her in the realm of darkness on that day in the Keyblade Graveyard? Does the time flow work differently in the Realm of Darkness? So many questions. So little answers...

I woke up early in the morning. Tinker Bell is already gone. I stand out on her porch, looking tired. I stretch my arms in the air and yawn. It's roughly about six in the morning, dawn takes the skies. I'm usually up this early in the morning, but it takes a moment for me to officially awaken. It's either that or my body is still a little stiff from my crash landings yesterday.

Tinker Bell flies in to me. "Morning, Patrick. You ready?"

"Yeah. I think so." I say, rubbing my eyes.

I look to see Tinker Bell has two bags made out of leafs. Tinker Bell tosses one of them to me, which I clumsy catched. "Here's your cup of Pixie Dust."

I open the bag of dust. It's filled with the golden pixie dust. I scoop up a handful of the magical dust to sprinkle them onto my winds. My wings spreads open and sparkle with the golden dust.

"Okay, let's go." Tinker Bell and I fly off.

We only fly just to get to some cart filled with tinker supplies. My day of work starts off as escorting Tinker Bell and her friends, Clank and Bobble, to deliver the supplies to the other talent fairies.

Tinker Bell and her friends are riding the cart being pulled by a mouse named Cheese. How strange, a mouse named cheese. I just follow them from above on my wings. I suppose I can't bullyache much on this, at least I'm getting some more training on my flying. Just then, the Unversed appears which causes cheese to panic. Clank yells and Tinker Bell gasps. I fly right in between the Unversed and the tinkers, summoning my Keyblade.

"I got them!" I say.

I attack the Unversed, I start off using Magnera. Once the Unversed are gathered in the magical magnet, I cast Ruin Storm. The Unversed suffered great damage from the Ruins falling from above. I continue attacking the Unversed as the Ruins rain down until I enter Spell Weaver.

Half of the Unversed becomes defeated as I strike them with my Arcane Keyblade. Few of the Unverses were able to make some attacks for they didn't get hit by my attacks. After defeating the Unversed, we continue down our path.

We arrive at the area for the Animal fairies, the Barrow Fields. There, we find Fawn having her hands full of trouble. "No! No! No! Don't run away! C-calm down!"

The bunny rabbits are hopping all around the fields in worry as the Dingo Berserkers, Unversed in the form of dogs, are chasing and attacking them. Tinker Bell floats towards Fawn. "Is everything okay, Fawn?"

"I'm afraid not, Tink. These creatures are scaring off the bunnies." Fawn says.

I sigh, summon my Keyblade walking into the battle. "I'm on it."

The Dingo Berserkers stops their chase on the bunnies and turn their attention to me. I'm still in my Spell Weaver style as I attack the Unversed. The Dingo Berserks manages to blow some hits on me, but I vigilance through the fight. Dodging and evading while still striking with my telekinesis Keyblade.

I slay two Dingo Berserkers before I unleash Spell Weaver. The Unversed gets knock into the air when they suffer the arcane magic I unleash in my spins. Up until they're all defeated.

I stand in the middle of the field with my Keyblade held out. After a brief moment, I let my guard down. The bunnies starts returning and I turn to Tinker Bell and Fawn. "Thank you for the help." Fawn says.

In responce, I shrugged my shoulders.

Once we were done with helping out Fawn, we moved on to the next talented fairy that needs help. We arrived at the Garden Fields. It's basically just a single road in a middle of a flower field. The situation here seems pretty dramatic...to Rosetta.

Unverses in the form of dirty gophers, Brownmole, are running around, either eating the flowers or just spilling dirt everywhere. Rosetta is screaming flying around. Me and Tinker Bell keep our eyes on the flower fairy. She flies right in front of us.

"Oh thank goodness! These creatures are causing trouble! I'm covered in dirt!" Rosetta spins around waving her hands in a panicking matter. "Get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF!"

I intend to notice her fear under all that. "You're a garden fairy...yet you're afraid of dirt?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Tinker Bell asks with a smirk.

"Right...How about you hose down southern bell here while I take care of the Unversed?" I say.

I walk into the battlefield, as I do, Rosetta stops her trauma looking at me upset with her fists on her hips. "Southern bell!?" She says with an offended tone.

The Unversed turn their attentions to me as I summon my Keyblade and attack them. The Brownmoles upchucks a shot of mud directly at me. I avoid the mud pumps as I run towards them. Once I'm close I give them a single swing of my Keyblade, only took out one of them.

In the center of the Unversed I cast Ruin Storm. I only stand in the middle of the storm of falling non-elemental orbs falling from the sky. I guard most of the attacks the Brownmoles throw at me, then I finish them off and heal myself with Halo.

The Unversed are finished, I turn to Rosetta who's still in her trauma from being covered in dirt. I sigh in irritation. "Oh good grief..."

I cast a Watera spell on Rosetta to wash that dirt off of her. I'm just hoping she doesn't question it since I'm not a water fairy. Rosetta instantly calms down when she's dirt-less.

"Oh...well thank you, honey." Rosetta says.

"Don't call me honey." I say.

"Oh sure...like how you call me southern bell?" Rosetta says getting in my face.

I pull her away from me, raising an eyebrow as I look at her. "Touché."

The Tinkers deliver their supplies to Rosetta. Afterwards, we move on. More Unversed gets in our way and I cut them down. The Unversed on the road are no challenge. I could take them out in one blow in Critical Impact.

In the middle of our path, we hear trouble going on. It's Vidia. "Get lost you creatures!" Vidia is trying to gather pollen from the flowers and put them in the pots, but the Archravens are interfering in her work.

"Vidia, you need any help?" Tinker Bell asks.

I was about to take flight until what Vidia says stops me. "I can handle this myself!" Vidia uses her wind powers to blow away the Unversed. Her little plans aren't working but she just keeps on trying.

"Is she always like this?" I ask.

"Most of the time." Tinker Bell says.

The Unversed flies at high speed near Vidia, which causes the fairy to lose her altitude and she falls. Vidia sits up growling. "Fine. Just...get rid of them!"

"Would it kill you to say 'please'?" I say, summoning my Keyblade and taking flight. I charge towards the Unversed. I strike at the Unversed before they even noticed me. By the time I strike, they start chasing after me. As I flight, I hurl my Keyblade in a Judgment Raid, hurling around and around each Unversed in a wind element.

When my Keyblade was slowing and gathering the Unversed, I quickly turned, channeling my magic then unleash a Ruinga. A large Ruin orb heads towards the Unversed, upon connect, it explodes leaving a giant puff of smoke in its wake. Half of the Unversed dies from the Ruinga. My Keyblade flies back to me and I grab it. As soon as I do I strike at the remaining Unversed.

When I was done, I return to the ground with Vidia and Tinker Bell. "Well it took you long enough!" Vidia says. "At least those creatures are now gone."

Vidia takes off resuming her work. Her words kind of hurt. "You're welcome by the way!" I turn to Tinker Bell. "Please tell me our next fairy is going to have some manners?"

"Well, let's find out." Tinker Bell says.

Clank and Bobble delivers the pollen pots Vidia needed then we continue on. We didn't ran into any Unversed, but you never know where those shadowy creatures are going to appear. We arrived at the River Creek. Everything seems fine when we showed up, no Unversed...then again, there's also no water fairies doing any work. But there is Silvermist here.

"Hey, Silvermist, what's going on?" Tinker Bell asks.

"Oh, Tinker Bell. Those creatures are back." Silvermist says.

I look around hearing that, but no Unversed are detected. "I don't see any Unversed."

"That's because they're in the water." Silvermist says.

Underwater Unversed. I feel like I'm relieving Atlantica again. I stand by the stream looking closely into the water. To my surprise, an Unversed popped out. A Sharpjaw, they're Unversed in the shape of a piranha. They're not very big, if anything I could just hold them in one hand.

The moment that one jumped right out of the water I swing my Keyblade, destroying the Unversed. "Piranha's...of course." I say. I fly off of my feet until I'm in the center of the river. "Hey! Ugly sushis! Fresh meat!"

I float in place as bait while Tinker Bell and Silvermist are standing back watching me on dry land. "Should we be concerned about this?" Silvermist asks.

"He'll be okay." Tinker Bell says.

Nothing happens for a moment, then dozens of the Sharpjaws jumps out of the water and towards me. I saw this coming. The second no more are coming out of the water, I unleash Stopra, and all of the Unversed freezes midair in time.

Tinker Bell and Silvermist are completely shocked to see that happen. I next unleash Ruin Storm, while that's happening I do Sonic Sonic Blade works differently in this world since I'm midair. I rush towards enemies not just sideways direction but altitude direction as well. When an Unversed I'm rushing to is above, I rush upwards.

When I'm done with Sonic Blade, I float back to shore in front of Tinker Bell and Silvermist. I hold my hand out with three fingers, then two, one, and point my thumb over my shoulder at the Unversed. On that moment, Stopra wears off and they end up dying from catching up on the blows I made on them.

Silvermist and Tinker Bell are still looking shocked at what just happened. After a minute, they recovered. "I don't think they'll bother you anymore." I say.

"Thank you for your help." Silvermist says.

We move on once we're done with Silvermist we continue one. Fawn. Rosetta. Vidia and now Silvermist. I wonder who's next in line...obviously Iridessa. We arrive at Sunflower Grove where we find a ton of Shadow Screechers flying around chasing fireflies.

Iridessa rushes towards us. "Tinker Bell! Thank goodness you're here. We're under attack!"

"Clearly." I say.

I take flight chasing after the Unversed. The Shadow Screechers don't bother to focus on me as I attack them, they just keep on chasing the fireflies. It's as if the Unversed are hungry and they're trying to dine on the insects.

For this kind of situation, I use Magnera. All of the Shadow Screechers at flies near by the magical magnet gets caught in it. I strike at the Shadow Screechers and finish my combos with a Hurricane Flare, spiraling backwards in flames. I enter Spell Weaver and strike at the Unversed. My Magnera wears off and the remaining Shadow Screechers continue chasing the fireflies. I cast a Firaga at one of the Shadow Screechers, ending it.

I focus on the last Shadow Screecher, chasing after it. By close range, I make my attacks. I have the creature staggering until my final blow defeats it.

The fireflies now calms down, they gather around Iridessa with excitement. The light fairy gathers some light from her leaf basket and tosses it into the air. The fireflies went crazy for the stuff. A single touch of the light and their tails glow.

I float next to Iridessa. "Thank you so much for saving them."

"The pleasure is mine, Iridessa." I say.

The next few hours went by well. Tracking down Unversed on other lands of Pixie Hollow, guarding the fairies who are preparing for spring. Each hour, the Unversed ratio has been dying down. These creatures are afraid of me...Good!

By late afternoon, it was quitting time for me. Mostly cause the Unversed has stopped appearing. I now have lunch with Tinker Bell's friends. We are having a fine picnic on a cliff that has quite a view of Pixie Hollow. It's an amazing view, I can pretty much see everything. Every seasonal land, even the Winter Woods.

"This is quite amazing." I say. I can a bite from my honey cone.

"It is, isn't it?" Rosetta says.

Fawn looks directly at me. "Thanks a ton for the help. We don't know what to do if you haven't shown up."

"Oh it was nothing. Just stuff I usually do for everyone." I say.

We all look at Vidia. She's just sitting there quietly. Vidia looks at us with a look that's saying that she's got nothing to say to us. In defeat she sighs.

"Fine! you are...less bad then I thought you were." Vidia says.

"Vidia!" Rosetta whispers.

"Thanks...I guess." I say unsure.

"Hey, Patrick?" I turn to Silvermist hearing her. "Tinker Bell said you were looking for someone."

I slowly nod. "Yes. That's true."

"Well, who is it? Maybe we can help." Iridessa suggests.

"That's kind of you, but I don't think you can help." I stand up, walking to the edge of the cliff as I gaze at the skies. "When I was little, I was lost, abandoned, with no memory of anything. I could have died back there."

The fairies except for Vidia looks shocked. "Oh gee, that's terrible." Silvermist says.

"I know. Especially about the memory part. It's fifteen years later and I still can't remember a damn thing from my earlier age." I say kicking a pebble over the cliff. "Well...on that day, I was found." I turn facing the fairies. "Her name was Aqua she took care of me. Fed me, protected me, natured me..." I look back at the skies. "She...was like a mother to me. But one day..." I look down in depression. "She was taken from me. I've spent my whole life trying to find her. Overtime, I start to lose faith and believed she was dead. But now I learned that she's still alive." I look back up in the skies. "She's somewhere far away, barely alive, struggling in vein to survive. I will find her and I will bring her back."

There's nothing but silence. I turn to see the young fairies are in a mixture of sorrow, touched and worry. Even Vidia is surprised. "I'm sorry for bringing all of that up. I guess I'm starting to have a habit of that." I rub the back of my neck and chuckle nervously.

"No, no. We think that's sweet story." Iridessa says.

We hear crying, we turn to see it's Rosetta crying her eyes out. "That's the saddest sweetest thing I've ever heard!" Rosetta takes a petal and blows her nose into it.

I just roll my eyes, and sigh. "Guys!" I turn and the fairies looks ahead, to see Tinker Bell rushing in with worry. Tinker Bell lands right in front of me. With her heavy breathing and worry, I can tell something's up.

"Tinker Bell...what's wrong?" I ask.

Tinker Bell speaks in between her breaths. "Queen Clarion. Missing. Unversed. Pixie Dust Tree. Trouble. Hurry!"

Putting those together, I can tell that means Queen Clarion is missing and the Unversed have returned and the pixie dust tree is in big trouble. With zero hesitation, we spread our wings and take flight, hurrying over the Pixie Dust Tree.


	21. Protect the Tree

**A/N: I always thought Rosetta to be the funny one in the Tinker Bell movies, wouldn't you all agree? I figured I'd try to make her the funny one in the Kingdom Hearts world. Like the way she reacted hearing my story. That was pretty good though. All though I would be more concerned for Queen Clarion. What could be happening to her at the moment?**

World: Pixie Hollow

* * *

The Shadowdread Forest. A dark and scary forest deep within Pixie Hollow. It's no place for any fairy, which makes Queen Clarion nervous. She has been taken to these dreadful woods, restraint by the darkness. The young fairy looks down with no hope of escape.

"Why so glum?" Queen Clarion looks up to see it's Vanitas. Vanitas's outfit is roughly the same but in leafs and petals like every other fairy, his waist cloak is now a full skirt and his wings are clear black. "Do you not feel pleased with my hospitality?"

What is there to be pleased with Vanitas's 'Hospitality'? She's chained in darkness left in a forest where there's no other life forms for miles, unless you count Vanitas and the Unversed.

Vanitas lets out a sigh leaning against the wall. "My, my. You're such a stubborn women. You still worried about those other fairies back in Pixie Hollow?"

"Why shouldn't I? I'm their queen and without me, everything will fall into chaos." Queen Clarion says.

Vanitas chuckles. "Perfect." Queen Clarion looks at Vanitas in worry hearing that. "Those fairies overwhelmed in fear are just what I need. Their negativity will give me the power to create the Unversed. Soon, I'll have enough power to destroy all of Pixie Hollow."

Queen Clarion gasps hearing that. "You wouldn't. That's not going to happen."

Vanitas looks at Queen Clarion with a smirk. "Oh, why's that? Is it cause you got a new fairy? ...A warrior fairy?" Queen Clarion looks surprised to hear that. "That's right, I know all about him. My master and Patrick have a...complicated relationship. And the funniest part is that Patrick doesn't know a damn thing about my lord. Everything he's suppose to know is nothing but a blank empty page of his life." Vanitas says with a laugh. He approaches to Queen Clarion. "I'm not worried about him, he'll be too busy helping his little fairy friends find their beloved queen. The perfect bait to my trap."

Vanitas walks away leaving Queen Clarion in the dark.

Meanwhile, all of fairies around the Pixie Dust Tree are panicking as the Unversed are chasing after them. I fly around chasing down the Unversed and striking them down. It would be a lot easier if the Unversed would hold still. Floating in the center of this battle field, I unleash Ruin Storm then I finished off the Unversed with Mega Flare.

All of the Unversed became defeated, but the fairies don't calm down. They are still panicking on Queen Clarion's disappearance. Tinker Bell, her friends and I fly towards the Pixie Dust Tree. In the throne room, we find the ministers of each of the seasons. Even Lord Milori is here with the help of the snowmaker.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It's those creatures! They attacked the Pixie Dust Tree." The Summer Minister says.

"And in the chaos, they took Queen Clarion." The Spring Minister says.

"All they left behind was this." Lord Milori turns, showing the large Shadowmoon symbol marked on the wall.

Me and the other fairies floats in front of the mark, looking up at it. I'm not too pleased to see it. "The Shadowmoon."

"You know them?" Tinker Bell asks.

I turn to the fairies. "They've been watching me from within the darkness. I should have known they would follow me to Pixie Hollow. And since it's the Unversed that's attacking, I'm guessing Vanitas is behind all of this. So he must be the one who took Queen Clarion."

"Then let's go rescue her!" Vidia says.

"First we need to learn where he's taken her." I say. "Is there any place in Pixie Hollow that's dark and evil?"

The fairies looks horrified, I have a feeling they do know where Queen Clarion could be taken. "There is this one place...but it's too dangerous." Iridessa says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"It's called the...the...the..." Silvermist says in worry.

"The Shadowdread Forest!" Fawn finishes dramatically. Thunder and lightning strikes at the mention of that place.

"But it's too dangerous. No fairy that's entered has ever. Come. Out!" Rosetta says.

The fairies gasp hearing that last part. I cross my arms. "Well, it's our only lead. So let's go check it out."

The fairies complained, a lot, but I've managed to get them to come along. We all fly to the southern area of Pixie Hollow, darkness takes the skies as we fly in the night. We arrive at the entrance to the Shadowdread Forest. We're just standing there looking up at the dreaded woods.

"So...who's going first?" Rosetta asks nervously.

All of the girls says 'Not it' and instantly hides behind me. I roll my eyes to my sides to see they're not next to me anymore. I groan in annoyance as I walk right into the woods with the fairies following me from behind, very closely.

We all walk right into the woods. I'm taking the lead since the other fairies are too scared to do so. We've walked for a while and nothing bad happens, but the fairies refuses to relax.

A twig snaps and the fairies reacts to it by flinching. Rosetta, who's the first fairy behind me, grips my shoulders hiding from behind. "What was that?" Rosetta asks.

"That was a twig." I say.

We keep on walking, until something falls in front of us. The fairies gasp and Rosetta hides deeper behind me. "What was that?"

"That's a branch!" I say in an annoyed tone.

We walk past the branch. The fairies still doesn't calm down after a moment of nothing happening. A single leaf falls from a dead tree, slowly falls until it taps on Rosetta's shoulder. The garden fairy screams in fear and jumps high, startling us, and lands right in my arms.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Rosetta shouts.

That's when I snap. "Oh! For! Petes! Sake!" I drop Rosetta on the ground in front of me, looking down at her. "Would you get a grip you big baby!? Nothing bad is going happen to us!"

Silvermist screams looking ahead. I look ahead to see Unversed coming right at us. The Shadow Screechers, Brownmoles and Wild Bruisers. They coming charging towards us. All of the fairies cowers in terror behind me.

"Except for that...of course." I say.

I summon my Keyblade and attack the Unversed. The Wild Bruisers throws some powerful blows at me. Once I recover, I strike at the Unversed then unleash Hurricane Flare. The Shadow Screechers roars at me with a high-pitched screech. When it's over, I cast a Ruinga at that Shadow Screecher. Few of the Unversed near that Shadow Screecher dies and I enter Spell Weaver.

I strike at the Unversed, the Brownmoles shoots me with their mud shots. I cast Cura to restore my health then continue striking. I quickly reach my full power then unleash Spell Weaver to finish off the Unversed. Once they were done, we continue on.

Even after my little fight back there, the fairies are still cowering in fear right behind me. We travel deep into the woods. Many of the Unversed stands in our way. The more we fight, the closer we are to Vanitas and Queen Clarion.

We arrive at the large dead oak tree that looks like it's been split by lightning. In front of the tree we see Queen Clarion chained in darkness.

"Queen Clarion!" Tinker Bell says.

Queen Clarion looks up surprised to see Tinker Bell flying towards her. "Tinker Bell? You're here?" The rest of the fairies flies right behind Tinker Bell. "And your friends too?"

I walk up beside Tinker Bell. "What am I? Chopped liver?" I ask.

Tinker Bell and her friends stand back while I stand in front of Queen Clarion by a few feet. I hold my Keyblade aiming it at her. A shadow keyhole appears in the center of the darkness that shackles her. The top of my Keyblade glows then shoots a beam of light at the keyhole, breaking the darkness that shackles Queen Clarion.

We hear a fainted clap. We look around wondering where it's coming from. Tinker Bell looks up at the top of the dead tree. "Look!"

We all look up, to see Vanitas slowly clapping, sitting on the tree legs crossed. "Vanitas!" I say.

"My. My. What do we have here? Six helpless little fairies and the Keybearer." Vanitas says.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask.

"Oh...nothing, just checking in on yea. Tell me, Patrick. Why is it that you waste your time in this fantasy tale world while your friend is suffering in the darkness down to her final breath?" Vanitas says with a smirk.

I draw my Keyblade back and hurl it at him. "Shut up!"

My Keyblade flies towards Vanitas until he blocks the blades attack with his dark barrier. My Keyblade falls down to the ground. Vanitas chuckles. "You're a fool as always. I command the Unversed. I feed on the negativity right off of you to create them." Vanitas stands up. "As a matter of fact, you're not the only one. While your precious queen was missing, all of the fairies have been drown to despair and fear. Their negativity has grant me enough power to destroy this pitiful world!"

Vanitas channels all of the darkness within him. I stand my ground while the other fairies are taking a step back. Vanitas raises a hand in the air, snapped his fingers. All of the negative darkness within Vanitas bursts out rushing into the sky. The darkness travels through the world until it hits a mountain far from our location and Pixie Hollow.

We all fly to get a view of that mountain. The entire mountain rumbles and cracks, until it explodes. In that explosion awakens a monster that's a thirty-foot tell mecha-suit with long sharp claws and flamethrowers on the upper half where the bottom half is a shredding vehicle.

Irondeath.

Irondeath moves ahead, slashing and burning and road killing all of the trees in the way. "Oh goodness!" Queen Clarion says. "This is horrible."

"What is that thing?" Vidia asks.

"An Unversed." I say.

"Correct." We all turn back looking at Vanitas. "Good luck trying to stop that thing. Have a nice day." Vanitas disappears into the shadows.

When he's gone, we return out attention to the monster destroying the Autumn Woods. "It's heading for the Pixie Dust Tree." Tinker Bell says.

"If the tree falls, there will be no more pixie dust. Life in pixie hollow will change forever, and no fairy will ever fly again." Queen Clarion says.

"Then we'll stop it." I say. We all hurry ourselves out of the Shadowdread Forest and head towards the Pixie Dust Tree as fast as we can.

We finally arrived at the Pixie Hollow just in time, but we can see the fairies are panicking. They have discovered the Irondeath. Queen Clarion declares an immediate evacuation. Tinker bell, her friends and I help all of the fairies and the animals leave Pixie Hollow for we know this is going to be a nasty fight. Vidia stays in the air to keep an eye on our little Unversed friend.

Half an hour later, Pixie Hollow is clear now. Dawn arises in the skies. The only ones remaining here are me, Tinker Bell, Rosetta, Vidia, Silvermist, Iridessa and Queen Clarion.

"That's everybody." Queen Clarion says.

"All right. I'll stay here and fight off the beast. The rest of you get out while you still can." I say.

"No. We're staying here." Tinker Bell says.

"I'm with Tink on this. You've helped us out a lot. It's time we returned a favor." Rosetta says.

I can't tell if these fairies are either very brave or complete fools. Either way, they could be helpful for taking on Irondeath. "Very well."

"It's approaching the Pixie Dust Tree!" Vidia warns.

Vidia flies down to join us. We all stand at the edge of top of the Pixie Dust Tree. We all look down as Irondeath approaches. When it's on the ground of the Pixie Dust Tree, it roars loudly.

I summon my Keyblade. "Let's do this!" I rush towards the large Unversed in flight and attack.

Irondeath starts off with rushing towards the Pixie Dust Tree. The chain and buzz saws from it's bottom half starts chopping down the tree. "Tink!" Tinker Bell flies down, we both land on the rear end of the bottom half of Irondeath. We found the control panel but it's locked. I tap it with my Keyblade and it opens. Tinker Bell does some tinkering with the wires until she disables the shredding vehicle.

"Just thinking like a tinker." She says. Irondeath disconnects it's upper body, it's floats in the air and attacks me. I strike at Irondeath a few times then do Ars Arcanum. While I attack, Irondeath strikes back at me as well, slash with its claws then does a flamethrower. When the flamethrower is aiming at the ground, the very ground the fire touch burns it.

Once I finish Ars Arcanum, I enter Critical Impact. I attack Irondeath with brute force. Irondeath summons an Illuminator Heartless. I'm surprised an Unversed boss can summon a Heartless. The Illuminator unleashes its power and turns the entire field into total darkness.

I can't even see past my own nose. "Iridessa!" Iridessa flies close to me.

"Let's shade some light." She says, and the light fairy glows in golden light. I can only see about 18 inches around me. Iridessa follows and guides me in the complete darkness as I wonder around looking for the Illuminator. I can hear the Irondeath attacking. It's not directly at me, so I'm guessing he's attacking the Pixie Dust Tree. I better hurry.

I finally found the Illuminator and destroy it. The total darkness vanishes then Iridessa returns to the other fairies above. I catch the Irondeath slashing its claws at the bark of the Pixie Dust Tree. I attack at Irondeath to interrupt its work. I cast Sparkra on the monster. Irondeath slashes at me. Guns come out of its shoulders and they start shooting at me.

I cast Cura to restore my health. I continue striking at the Unversed with Hurricane Flare. My power surges deeper and I enter Heaven's Light. As a fairy, my right wing glows in white light instead of growing an angel wing. I attack the Unversed with my holy strikes. Irondeath does a double flamethrower. The burning flames hits the Pixie Dust Tree as well, nearly burning it.

The Pixie Dust Tree is greatly damaged. "Rosetta!" Rosetta flies down.

We both stand side to side in front of the tree. Rosetta conjures her gardening powers while I'm channeling my healing spells. "Time to bring beauty to the world!" Rosetta says. We combine our powers and a glowing green healing orb appears in front of us. We release it and the healing orb completely restores the Pixie Dust Tree. Rosetta returns to the other fairies.

I continue attacking Irondeath. Irondeath releases missiles from it's back, I avoid the missiles as they rain down at me, then I cast Ruin Storm. I reach my full power then unleash Heaven's Light. Irondeath does it's rapid slashing at me while I'm channeling my power of light. When I'm done with Heaven's Light, two halfs of large shields appears from the Unverses arms and holds them together in front of them.

"Fawn!" Fawn flies above me.

"Unleash your wild side!" Fawn sprinkles some dust on me then I gain a beastly strength. I draw my Keyblade back then throw it at the shield with my full strength. The impact of my weapon shatters the shield. I resummon my Keyblade and do Sonic Blade.

Irondeath staggers from my zooming hits. Once I was done, it does flamethrower. The fire burns all of the ground, I can barely find a safe spot to stand on. "Silvermist!" I start channeling my water spells. Silvermist floats right over my head. I rise my Keyblade high sending all the water towards up.

"Let's bring in the season." Silvermist gathers the water forming into a giant bubble, then she releases it all into a large rain to douse the fires.

Irondeath slashes its claws at me. I cast Cura then continue attacking. Irondeath is a tough challenge I'll give it that. I enter Fever Pitch, during that, Irondeath enters berserk mode, revealing saws, sharp blades from its arms. It spins around at high speed while igniting its flamethrowers.

"Vidia!" Vidia flies down.

"Let's blow them away!" Me and Vidia both fly around and around the Irondeath in the opposite direction it's spinning. We spin at high speed we start creating a tornado. The Unversed starts to slow down it's spinning then gets end spinning in the other direction.

Me and Vidia stops out flying, just floating in place. The Unversed gets very dizzy then collapses to the ground. Vidia returns to the other fairies as I attack Irondeath. I make swift strikes with my Keyblade, cast a Firaga, then once I reach to my full power I unleash Fever Pitch.

Irondeath is defeated.

Irondeath twitches and shakes for it's death is approaching. Parts of it's body starts to fall apart until the head finally drops. The Unversed fades away into the shadows.

I pant as I float in place with my Keyblade held in my hand. I release a sigh knowing it's over. "It's done."

Tinker Bell and her friends celebrate. By noon, all of the fairies have returned and were able to resume with their work preparing for Spring. Tinker Bell and her friends are the only ones who aren't working for they are in the Throne Room with me. I kneel in front of Queen Clarion as she floats in front of me.

"Thank you for everything you've done to protect Pixie Hollow. We can't thank you enough for your heroic actions." Queen Clarion says.

"The pleasure is mine, Queen Clarion. I'm happy to help out people in need from the forces of the darkness." I say.

"To show you our gratitude, would you like to have a home here in Pixie Hollow?" Queen Clarion says.

Tinker Bell and her friends, except Vidia, are pleased to hear that. "I appreciate the offer, my queen, but I'll have to decline." Tinker Bell and mummers each other hearing that. "I'm on a journey to find someone, and I won't stop until I find her."

"I understand. Here, take this..." Queen Clarion casts a spark of dust. The small orb of pixie dust stops in front of me and transforms into a Fairy Charm. "We all wish you the best of luck on your journey."

I take the Fairy Charm. I stand and give a small bow. "Thank you, my queen."

I turn to Tinker Bell. "Come back to Pixie Hollow sometime."

"If you do, maybe you could bring your friend. we would love to meet her." Silvermist says.

I smile and nod. "Yeah, I think she'll love this world."

I make my leave from the throne room. Before I leave this world, Tinker Bell gives me enough dust to collect my lost wallet. Now the store building is without a roof, but they'll adjust. So now I leave Pixie Hollow with hope to return sometime with Aqua.


	22. Connection Calling

**A/N: I have visited three more other worlds. The Pixie Hollow and the Blazing Kingdom were interesting worlds weren't they? If only they were in the Kingdom Hearts game, especially Pixie Hollow. I think it's cool to play as a fairy. I envy Kirito and his friends for having that Fairy MMO game in Sword Art Online.**

World: Radiant Garden

* * *

I returned to Radiant Garden shortly after my journey in Pixie Hollow. I was glad to see Ventus is settling in well with everyone. It's early in the morning, Ven decided to do a little training, since he hasn't practice in fifteen years. He's now in the Fountain Court. Ven just stands in place near one of the water grounds. He stares down at his own reflection on the thin water.

"So much has changed..." He says.

Ven stands back. He holds his Keyblade, Lost Memories, in front of him. He holds it over his head and gives a heavy strike releasing a yell. As he practices his hits, he thinks about the past. His home in the Land of Departure. His friends Terra and Aqua. His master Eraqus. He still cannot believe all of it is gone.

What he cannot believe most was seeing me all grown up. As far as he remembers, I was a helpless shy little boy who wouldn't leave Aqua's side, who was the only one that Ven could beat in a sparring match. It's like one minute I'm that and the next I'm suddenly a Keyblade Master.

Ventus releases a final strike and shout. He now rests from his training, standing there panting. He takes a final sigh. Ventus turns and is caught by surprise. I'm standing by a lightpole watching him.

"Morning, Ventus." I say.

Ventus stands straightly then bows. "Oh. Good morning, master Patrick."

I chuckled as I walk towards Ventus. I push him to stand back straight. "At ease, boy. No need to get all formal."

"I must. To a student of Master Yen Sid and a Keyblade Master." Ventus says.

"And here I thought Goofy was a nutty one." I say. "That was some impressive practice. Not bad for being asleep for fifteen years."

Ventus nods with a smile. But that smile disappears. "I still can't believe I've been asleep for that long. Feels like just yesterday, I'm in the Land of Departure with Terra and Aqua and you were a little boy. Now I'm in Radiant Garden...with you all grown up."

"I don't blame yea, kid." I say. "It's nice to see you're settling in well with Leon and the others."

"Yep. They treated me very well." Ventus says. "By the way, why is it Serah calls you her big brother? Is she really your sister?"

I shook my head. "No. We just grew up together after I was abandoned when Aqua was taken. I guess I just felt like a brother to her."

Ven seems depressed. "I still can't believe what happened to Terra and Aqua. I was worried something were to happen to them in the Keyblade Graveyard, but I didn't think it could get this bad."

"Neither did I. Xenahort is quite the wicked. It's as if he was planing to get rid of you three from the start." I say.

"Well...not me. He was using me to become some kind of χ-blade_." _Ven says.

"Yes, yes. I'm well aware of that." I turn to the side looking at the distance. "Terra became Xehanort's new vessel and Aqua was taken away in the darkness. I'm already on a journey to bring her back from that horrible realm." I put my fingers on my chin. "But for Terra...his will be a hard one."

Terra went through quite a journey in his condition. First he became Xehanort's vessel, I don't know what happened to him five years later, then he attacks Radiant Garden and becomes a Heartless and a Nobody, both of which were destroyed by Sora and Riku. Then for some reason, he returns as a human again along with few other's who were members of Organization XIII as Nobodies.

"Hey, you want to spar?" I ask.

Ventus looks surprised and confused hearing that. "A spar?"

"Yes. I never really got a real match with you. I mean, back in the Land of Departure, you were going easy on me and we were using toy swords." I say.

"Well...if you insist. But I'm not going easy on you." Ven says.

I chuckle hearing that, then I give Ven a pat on the head. "I'd be more worried about myself if I were you."

* * *

Me and Ventus returned to the Central Square. Merlin and everyone else are taking their seats on the benches on the walls above the center square. Me and Ventus stands in front of each other a few feet. We both give a simple bow then we summon our Keyblades taking our positions.

"So who are you guys gonna root for?" Yuffie asks.

"Why, big brother of course." Serah says.

"I think Ventus has a chance of winning." Rinoa says.

"Are you kidding? He's been asleep in cold storage for years while Patrick's been training hard core. That kid's toast." Cid says.

Leon, Cloud, Tifa and Noel mutters in agreement. Me and Ven stands in place frozen. Ven takes this opportunity to observe my form. I hold with my Keyblade held to my side, legs spread knees bended, my attention sharply focused on Ven. Ven takes a baby step forward. I give a small flinch, that's when Ventus makes his strike.

The boy is quick but I'm faster. I dodge his attack by moving to the side right when he was about to make contact. Ventus was surprised by my last second dodge. The boy stumbles forward as he tries to stop his movement. The moment he stops, I make a rush charge towards him. Before he realizes my assault, I strike twice then give him a sweep kick, knocking him off of his feet, then kick him in the back while he's off his feet.

Ventus falls back and hits the wall. "See? What I tell yea?" Cid says.

Ventus staggers to get back on his feet. He looks at me surprised. "Don't forget: I'm not the helpless little boy you've been fighting."

Ven puts on his serious face, holding his Keyblade by him. "Right!"

Ventus charges at me, yelling. Ventus makes his strikes, I evade each of them. At his last strike, I parry it. I grab Ven by the shirt and toss him over my shoulder to the ground. I turn looking down at the boy. He gets back on my feet and attacks. I make my strike causing his Keyblade to fly out of his hands.

Ven looks at his Keyblade. Once it's on the ground, he looks at me completely surprised. He didn't expect to be disarmed like that. I give him a spiral kick, knocking him back down to the ground. I stand over him with a foot on his chest. Ventus looks at me.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" He asks.

I smile a little. "A little bit." I answered.

Squall jumps into the square walking towards us. "All right, I think the kid's had enough."

Ventus gets back on his feet. "Wow. You really surprised me. I guess Yen Sid taught yea well."

"He certainly did." I say.

Ventus reaches into his pocket. "Here, you should have this." I take the Ventus charm. "I woke up with that. I don't know what it is or how it ended up with me, but I figured you could make good use of it.

I smile a little, giving a nod. Just then, I get a feeling of unease presence. I turn my head to the side as I hear a fainted noise. Sounds like weird chanting, only I can't make out what it is. One second I hear it then it's gone.

"What is it?" Leon asks.

"Hmm..." The rest of the gang gathers with us. I'm drawn silent for a moment, but nothing happens. "I'm getting a bad feeling." I say.

"Now that you mention it...I'm getting a bad feeling too." Ven says.

"You sure it's not feeling sore from all those beat downs?" Yuffie says, making everyone but leon and Cloud and Aerith laugh.

"Is it Heartless?" Leon asks.

"Unversed?" Ven says.

I turn completely around. There's nothing, then the feeling is gone. "I don't know...maybe I just imagined it."

We all return to the house.

* * *

Aqua yells as she strikes the Heartless with her Keyblade. In a single strike, the Heartless falls, but she gets hit with every five Heartless she slain. Even though each hit is a minor attack, it hurts like it's a major attack.

Aqua soon becomes surrounded by the Darkballs. They charge towards her, all at once. Before they could reach her, Aqua unleashes Explosion, unleashing powerful light magic surrounding her, wiping out the Darkballs.

Vantias, Izu, Zaela and Wingul stands on top watching Aqua with Rasputin.

"She's a tough one to break." Izu says.

Aqua blocks a Morning Star's attack with one of its spike arms. Aqua repels the attack then strikes at it three times, destroying it. However, another one appears behind her. Aqua turns and gasps as she sees it's about to strike her.

The heartless knocked her back and she falls to the ground below, smashed to the ground. Aqua groans in agony. She manages to get back on her feet, only with her knees bent and she holds on to her right arm, moaning in pain.

Aqua looks around. She can see that there's countless Darksides all around her. Aqua holds her Keyblade out, but still having her left hand on her right upper arm, for it sores with exhausted pain.

"You should let me finish her, lord Rasputin." Wingul says.

Rasputin looks at Wingul at the corner of his eyes. "Not yet." Then turns his attention back to Aqua. "I want to see her suffer."

Shouting with rage, Aqua charges towards one of the Darkside's and attacks.

* * *

Later on that day, me and Ventus are hanging at on the bar. We are sitting at the table by the windows. I was sharing him the recording Aqua had made before going on her journey fifteen years ago. Ventus is surprised to hear everything she's saying on the device. What's surprising is that she's making me her living legacy. He thought it would be either him or Terra since they're close friends with her.

The message gets to the point where she's about to sing, that's when I stop it. "Wow...that's deep." Ventus says.

"I know. It really brought me to tears. Mostly cause I was sadden to hear her once again all these years. Maybe me realize I miss her more then I thought." I say.

"I know...I just wish there's something I can do." Ven says. "Aqua is my friend, so were Terra. I even gave my life to protect them."

I look at him curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Back at the Keyblade Graveyard, when Vanitas and I joined together, he was wielding the incomplete χ-blade. My only choice was to join him to make it whole, cause if I didn't, my heart would be destroyed. But I refused and destroyed it along with Vanitas." Ven explains.

"Geez. That explains how your heart vanished." I look out the window. "But you're only half correct, cause Vanitas is still out there."

Ventus looks worried. "What? How?"

"I have no idea. But he's now working for the Shadowmoon." I say.

"What Shadowmoon?" Ven asks.

I look at Ventus. "Man, you have a lot of catching up to do, kid." I say. "The Shadowmoon are the people that took Aqua away. They are hunting for someone known as 'The last LeiShen'. Before you ask, LeiShen's a powerful Keybladers that were the guardians of Kingdom Hearts, and the Shadowmoon are hunting for them."

"So...who's the last one?" Ven asks.

"I don't know...It's all confusing. I personally think it could be Aqua since they're assaulting her every second in the darkness. But then again, they are also having their sights on me." I lock my fingers together, elbows on the table and my chin on my hands looking down on the wooden board in between us. "Aqua has to be, since she's powerful enough to live fifteen years straight in battle."

"If she is, that's horrible." Ven says.

"Yes it is. Which is why I have to find her. It's only a matter of time before she gives into the darkness and shallows her whole." I say.

Ventus is speechless. Just then, Tifa walks by with our drinks. She sets down my hot chocolate and Ven's oolong tea. I pick up my cup, giving it a cooling blow.

"Hey, Patrick?" I look at Ventus. "Did you ever...get back your memories?"

I shook my head. "No. Everything I have forgotten when I arrived in your world is still a hollow image." I set my cup down, crossing my arms. "I've tried so hard to remember, but everytime I try, I keep entering some kind of migraine attack."

"That's gotta be tough." Ven says. "It was the same thing with me back then. When I first arrived, I had no memory of anything and the Aqua and Terra's questions, except for my name, caused me so much pain I blacked out."

"Yeah, Aqua told me that before." I say.

Me and Ven finish our drinks and left the bar. As soon as we're out the door, the feeling returns, only it's stronger then before. Ventus must be getting it as well.

"You feel it too?" I ask.

"Ye-yeah. It's so weird." Ven says.

Just then, my Wayfinder glows. Ven's pocket is glowing as well. He reaches in taking out his Wayfinder, which is the object that's glowing. "Our Wayfinders, they're glowing."

I look down, resting the wayfinder on my palm of my hand. "Why..." The I hear the whispering chants once again. I look up. "Humm? Did you hear that?"

Ventus looks at me confused. "Hear what?"

So Ventus can't hear it. The whispers speaks again, louder. It still sounds like chanting, but strangely I can make out what it's saying.

"'Come...come to...the grave...The grave of...fallen bearers.'" I say.

The whispers slowly fade away, then the feeling then our Wayfinders stop glowing. "What was that?" Ven asks.

"I don't know." I look down, fingers on my chin. "'Come to the grave of fallen bearers'...hmm."

"Could this be that Shadowmoon's doing?" Ven asks.

"Perhaps...then again, it feels like...someone's calling me." I say.

"Maybe it's Aqua." Ven says with hope.

"Only one way to find out." I face Ven. "We have to go to the Keyblade Graveyard."


	23. Test of Valor

**A/N: I am being summoned to the Keyblade Graveyard. Is this another work of the Shadowmoon? Then again...the wayfinders were glowing. Perhaps it could be one of our other fallen friends who are asking for help. Let's see what'll happen in the world of the fallen.**

World: Keyblade Graveyard

* * *

The Keyblade Graveyard.

A world where the great Keyblade War took place, where countless Keyblade wielders battled for the light of Kingdom Hearts. Now it serves as a ruin world for the fallen wielders of the Keyblade.

Ventus and I ride on my Hoverbike past this deserted world. We are being summoned here by a mysterious calling. We have no idea who or what it is, but we have to respond to it, even if it's the Shadowmoon. Who knows? Maybe it'll help me find a way to bring Aqua back from the darkness.

Ven is feeling nervous about arriving to this world. I land my Hoverbike in the Seat of War. Ventus hops off and I get off. We both walk to the edge, looking at the view of the world. I look at Ven noticing the nervousness on his expression.

"You scared?" I ask.

"A little." Ventus faces me. "Last time I was here, I lost my friends...and my heart."

"Well, what's not going to happen again." I walk past Ven taking the path towards the Twister Trench. "Just stay close to me."

Me and Ventus takes our little stroll through the Twister Trench. The Unversed appears in this world. Ventus was afraid at first, so I take on the Unversed myself. After seeing me fighting, Ventus joins in. As we fight the Unversed, I use my Fairy Charm. I grow my fairy wings with six little pixie fairies, in separate colors of blue, green, brown, yellow, purple and pink, flying around me and link with Tinker Bell and her friends.

All of my attacks are aerial based. I start with a rush strike then sweep in the air preforming angle dive attacks. Ventus attacks swiftly then blows the Unversed away with Aeroga. Dawns attacks Ventus, I rush to him and block their attacks with Holy Shield, casting a hexagon barrier of light in front of me. When they stop attacking, I use Water Spout, pouring water above me and comes down at the Unversed.

The Unversed are defeated and we continue on. More of them appear and we attack them. I do Petal Storm, channeling a wind tornado of rose petals harming the Unversed. Ventus focuses on the one Bruiser. The Unversed attacks me hard, I even staggered. I cast Curaga to restore my and Ventus's health. I do Prism Rain, doing aerial flurry strikes then the tip of my Keyblade charges in rainbow colors, then launch a salvo of rainbow-colored orbs, you could say it's a Fairy D-link version of Ragnorak.

Then I reach my full power and unleash Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust. The little pixies form into a hexagon, with me in the center. The hexagon ground becomes coated in nature light. I hold my Keyblade up, unleashing fairy power, hurting enemies and healing me.

The Unversed are defeated and we continue on. We arrive at the Fissure then make our way to the Crossroads of Destiny. We walk on the single path until we reach the crossroads.

"Have you been here before?" Ven asks.

"Several times as a matter fact." I say. "When I became a Keyblade master, I made a memorial shrine for Aqua. I often come to here to visit her."

"I see." Ven says.

"I usually tried talking to her, just telling her how I'm doing, my day with Leon and the others, about a new world I visited, when I pasted my Mark of Mastery. Of course that was back when I believed she was dead." I say.

"How are you so sure she's still alive?" Ven asks.

"Your friend, Vanitas, showed me a portal of her in the Realm of Darkness." I say.

"And you believed him? You do realize he's evil and all that?" Ven asks.

"I'm well aware, Ven. But what other choice do I have?" I say.

We now arrive at the Wasteful Bridge. When entering this zone, we can feel the strange presence growing stronger. More of the Unversed appears and Ventus and I attack them. I start off with Shadow Dash, rushing with dark energy at a chain of Unverses and striking at high speed, like a dozen strikes in two seconds.

Half of the Unversed dies from my Shadow Dash, then I enter Star Surge. Ventus does his Sonic Blade ability and took out two Unverses, I finish off the rest with my Ruinga spell.

We continue on the path until we arrive at the Badlands. Me and Ventus just walks in the wide desert. Ven seems very cautious, he remembers this area very well. It's where his master tried to force him to become the χ-blade, and when he had this first fight with Vanitas.

When we're in the middle, I stop, and hold my arm out making Ven stop. Ven seems confused. "Patrick, what are you-"

I hush at Ven.

For miles around, there is nothing, yet it feels like...someone's here. The wind is starting to pick up, which startles Ven a little. The lesser sandstorm was the beginning of his end the last time he was at the Keyblade Graveyard.

In front of us, there's a blinding thick sandstorm, the wind blowing powerfully. My coat and hair and Ven's hair are waving with the breeze. We see something in that sandstorm, but it's hard to make out. The sandstorm starts to lighten up, then once it's clear, the figure within that storm is Terra's armor and Keyblade, Ends of the Earth.

The Lingering Will.

Me and Ven gasps, we're in shock to see this. "T-T...Terra?" Ven asks.

"No...it can't be." I say. "Terra is still being possessed by Xehanort."

"But, he's sitting right in front of us, how can that be?" Ven asks.

"That's what I'm wondering about. I've never seen anything like this." I say.

The Lingering Will is just sitting there on its knees, with its hands and head on the hilt of the Keyblade with the tip end of the blade planted into the earth.

The chanting echoes in my head.

'Aqua...Ven...Patrick...'

I exhale hearing that. It's coming from Terra's armor. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ven asks. Ven can't hear anything. I'm the only one who can.

"Do you feel it?" I say.

"Yeah...The presence feeling...it's coming from that." Ven says.

I slowly hold my hand out, and summon my Keyblade in front of me.

'A Keyblade? Who are you?'

Terra's spirit doesn't recognize me? Or does it...?

'I know you. We've met before, way back then.'

I can feel Terra's light within the armor. Is this all the remains of him? Terra is being possessed by Xehanort. All of the light within him is gone, overtaken by the darkness of his own and Xehanorts.

The very last light of him is right in front of me.

'No, that wasn't you! You're not the one I chose.'

'Chose?' What could that mean? I remember the time when Aqua lend me her power to wield the Keyblade back on Destiny Islands on my birthday. Is that what he meant? He bestowed his power to another?

'Where is he? ...Xe...ha...nort...Is that you?'

Xehanort? Now he's not making any scene.

'Xeha...nort...Xehanort!'

The Lingering Will gets on its feet. Me and Ven are on alert. "Wh-what's going on?" Ven asks.

The Lingering Will faces us. It grabs its Keyblade, pull it from the ground. The Lingering Will stands in place. The Lingering Will's voice speaks in my head.

"It...wants me to fight." I say.

Ven looks at me surprised. "What?"

I remove my trench coat, tossing it to Ven. Ven catches it wither clumsy. It's mostly on him like he's a coat rack. I step up, a few feet away from Ven, until I'm about ten feet from the Lingering Will. "I accept your challenge." I say, making my stance.

The Lingering Will makes the first strike, charing at me and impaling its Keyblade on the ground, unleashing massive pillars of light around it. That sure did some serious damage to me, I take a quick moment to recover, then I attack Lingering Will. A few strikes from my Keyblade then do Shadow Dash.

Lingering Will does its Ultima Cannon, its Keyblade turns into a large shoulder cannon. It's aiming at me as it charges and shoots a monstrous energy ball. I block the energy ball with my Holy Shield, which bounces it back to the Lingering Will. The giant orb explodes knocking the Lingering Will into the air. I cast Duskga, shooting a large dark orb towards the Lingering Will which breaks into half a dozen dark orbs when near the Lingering Will, then I enter Star Surge.

I strike at the Lingering Will while it's still staggering. I throw a few Firaga spells then a Ragnarok, doing aerial flurry strikes, charging up energy from my Keyblade then launch a salvo of lasers. Lingering Will recovers then does Air Rush, charging midair three times. I dodge out of the way for each of them. The Lingering Will lands, I continue attacking then, then I reach my full power and unleash Star Surge.

Lingering Will summons two laser shooters, then turn it's Keyblade into a hover vehicle. The Lingering Will hops on the vehicle and rides around the field, constantly trying to roadkill me. I dodge its rushes and block the lasers with my Holy Shield. This whole thing goes on for a while, there were few times when I fail to dodge or block.

Whenever I get the moment, I cast a Curaga, then I use my Rapunzel Charm. I become coated in holy flames and my hair grows long, like down to my waist. Lingering Will ends it's Hover Vehicle attack, then I attack it. My combos are blazing strikes and for my finishing combo, I unleash a flame sphere that knocks Lingering Will into the air. I cast Firaza, shooting three fires at the Lingering Will.

Lingering Will turns its Keyblade into some bow and it shoots three times at me. I dodge each of the arrows then do Flare Whip. My Keyblade turns into a burning whip and I lashed it at the Lingering Will. I continue attacking Lingering Will then do Sparkga. Lingering Will recovers from staggering then does its Air Rush. After it's Air Rush, it once again does the Ultima Cannon. I block the large energy orb, reflecting it back to the Lingering Will.

Lingering Will is a tough fight I'll give it that. I continue attacking then do Sun Glare, casting a sun light to shine down on the Lingering Will. I reach my full power then do Entanglement. Roots rise out of the ground, holding the Lingering Will in place, with a large closed flower on top. I channel burning and holy magic, causing the flower to blossom unleashing it's golden power. My link with Rapunzel ends.

Ven just stays back, watching the whole thing. He's pretty amazed at how well I'm doing in this fight. But that shortly ends when the Lingering Will starts charging up grand power. I am even surprised myself.

"Oh dear." I say.

When the Lingering Will finishes charging, it charges at me and strikes viciously with brute force and high speed, I could barely block the whole thing with my Holy Shield. After a couple of flurries, Lingering Will separates the Keyblade's blade and hilt. Lingering Will strikes at me with the blade and hilt spinning at light speed, a plus cross at first then double sweep, one moving down and the other moving up. I couldn't block those attacks so I end up taking the whole damage.

After that, Lingering Will connects the blade and hilt, setting the hilt to act as the blade. Lingering Will does a sonic charge twice, which I block both, an aerial cross dive, which I dodge. Lingering Will strikes swiftly at me then does a final charge slash. The final blow knocks me back and I crash into a stone pillar.

"Patrick!" Ventus shouts.

I start to get on my hands on knees. I look up at the Lingering Will. "You think I'll go down that easily?" I stagger to get on my feet. I cast a Curaga to restore myself. I grab my Keyblade doing a rush charge. "Think again!"

I make a single strike, the Lingering Will blocks the attack. I was expecting it to do that, so I cast a Quakega on it, causing three large boulders to burst out of the earth, knocking the Lingering Will into the air. I strike midair at the Lingering Will a few times, causing me to enter Critical Impact. Lingering Will does Sphere of Wrath, waving its Keyblade around causing a large sphere of light strikes around it.

I get caught in the damaging and launched into the air in the end. I recover midair then cast Curaga as I land. I continue attacking Lingering Will then do Shadow Dash. Lingering Will teleports from a distance and does its Ultima Cannon. At the very last second, I notice the attack from behind and block with Holy Shield.

Lingering Will is launch in the air from it's own exploding attack. I rush towards Lingering Will and attack as soon as it lands. I reach my full power and unleash Critical Impact.

Lingering Will is defeated.

We now just stand in place, positioned to strike. I'm panting with exhaustion. After a minute, I give in and collapse on my knees using my Keyblade for support. Ven rushes to my side, putting his hands on my shoulders. I look up at the Lingering Will.

Soon, the hollow armor lets its guard down then casts a healing spell on me. My strength returns and I stand back on my feet. Lingering Will's chant echoes in my head.

'That's it. Your power! That's what I felt within you.'

I raise an eyebrow curiously at it. "What's that suppose to mean?" I ask.

Ventus just looks at me with confusion. Lingering Will plants its Keyblade back on the ground, then slowly stands on its knees with its hand and head on the hilt, returning to it's previous position.

I hear the Lingering Will chanting, what surprises me is what it said. "Free my heart...from the seeker of darkness." I say in a whisper.

The Lingering Will's entire body glows. From bottom to top, the light vanishes, and it's all transferred into the Keyblade. As soon as the Keyblade stops glowing, the Lingering Will falls part and the armor lays dead on the ground.

Ven screams horrified seeing that, I put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Calm down. It's just his armor."

Ven nods and we both look at the Keyblade. "What just happened?"

"I don't know. but I have a feeling..." I walk towards the Keyblade. I'm right in front of it then I pull it out of the ground. I hold Ends of the Earth in front of me, looking down at it. I'm speechless as I gaze at it. "He's here."

"What's that?" Ven asks.

I turn facing Ventus, holding the Keyblade in front of him. "Do you feel it?"

Ventus hesitates to put his hand on the hilt. The moment he touches it, he's surprised. "Yes...I can feel it...Is that...?"

"That's right. It's Terra." I say. "This must be all that's left of him. His soul, mind...and light."

"Do you think that's why his armor was alive? Acting on it's own will?" Ven asks.

I lower the Keyblade down. "Perhaps... I'm guessing when Xehanort took possession of Terra's body, his mind and light must have transferred into his armor."

"How is that possible?" Ven asks.

"It's a mystery to me too. But one thing's for certain: We need to find his body." I say.

"But...where is it?" Ven asks.

I turn around. "Knowing Xehanort, I'm guessing he's here...I'm certain of it." Ven looks confused as I move on ahead. Ven shortly follows me from behind.

We both stand right in front of Aqua's Shrine. Ventus looks surprised to see the whole thing, but he's also sadden cause he does miss his friend. I remove Stormfall and move behind the shrine, to the edge of the cliff. I plant the two keyblades at each corner of the cliff. Ventus and I summon Lost Memories and Black Angel.

The tips of our Keyblades touch and then they glow. Stormfall and Ends of the Earth also respond to the glow. Me and Ventus aim our Keyblades at the distance over the cliff and they shoot beams of light. As the light travels, a path is created. A path made of magic in the form of Wayfinders moving downwards.

Once all of that is done, I return Stormfall to the shrine and I pick up Ends of the Earth.

"Let's go." I say as I move on ahead.


	24. Freeing the Light

**A/N: Looks like I have some business with Xehanort. I now have Terra's light and spirit, and I am now planning to return it all to him. Will I pull it off or will I fall into darkness like Terra did? Why don't we find out?**

Worlds: Keyblade Graveyard/Radiant Garden

* * *

Ventus and I walk to the path of the light. The zone we arrived in is Scarred Hope, it's a trench path with dead Keyblades impaled to the walls. We both look up at the skies to see something from the distance. It's a large earth tower with a dark sphere on the top.

"Look." I say.

Ven looks at the dark sphere I'm pointing at. "Darkness...could that be...?"

"Maybe." I say. We look ahead to see Neoshadow's and Darkballs. I summon my Keyblade, Ven does the same. "Looks like we're gonna have some interferences."

I charge right in, taking on the Heartless. Ventus is right behind me taking them on as well. I focus on the Neoshadow's while Ven takes on the Darkballs. I give them a taste of Thundaga while Ven does his Aeroga spell. Few of the Neoshadow's hide in the ground and crawl around then stand back up to attack me and Ven. One of the Darkballs charges towards me chopping its teeth repeatly.

I saw it coming then cast a Waterga, shooting a line wave of water pumping from the ground heading towards the Darkball. Me and Ventus finishes off the Heartless and continue down the path.

It's nice to have someone watching my back in a situation like this. It's funny how i only realize that now when I visited so many worlds that have brave souls to fight the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed with me. Maybe it's cause Ventus is a close friend of mine, even though I only got to spent a year to know him and spent the next fifteen looking after his sleeping body.

After fighting off a couple of Heartless, we entered Shadows Abyss, which is a bridge path hundreds of feet above a very deep pit you can't see the bottom, the road splits in front of the pillar with a giant earth Keyblade statue on top and then merges at the other side of the pillar.

Me and Ven decided to split up, which wasn't too much of a good idea cause we end up facing more Heartless on the way. I took them down quickly with the help of the Lightning Charm. I defeated the Invincible's with an Army of One, striking at the speed of light with my weapon a few times, then doing some sweep kicks then deliver a final strike with my Keyblade that sends a surviving Invincible in the air.

Once the Invincible's are defeated, I make it to the other end. Since Ven isn't here, I run down his path to see if he's in trouble. He isn't but he is having trouble facing against the Shadows. Those things are really annoying. I cast a Thundaza, calling three large thunderbolts from the sky on the Shadows.

The Shadows went down pretty quickly. Can't decided it's cause they're weak or Ventus just loosened them up as they say. I'm guessing both. Afterwards, we continue down our path.

The next zone is Graveyard, which is a wide area filled with tombstones, and one those graves is a Keyblade. I'm guessing they're the wielders and those Keyblades on the graves belonged to the late wielder.

"This place gives me the creeps." Ven says.

"Eh, I'm use to stuff like this back in Halloween Town." I say.

Heartless appears and we both attack them. I start the fight with Petal Storm while Ventus just attacks then does Ars Arcanum. The Heartless were no challenge here, but several at still standing. I finish them off with my full power Zantetsuken.

Me and Ven walks down the Graveyard until we enter Forsaken's Shadow, which is the bottom floor of the stone tower. Me and Ven looks right up to it. "How are we gonna get up there?" Ven asks.

I think for a moment. The Hoverbike is back in the beginning, it'll take to long to go back and get it. My D-linking needs to recharge to grow wings in fly. I do have another option in mind.

"Summon your Keyblade." I say.

Ven is confused but goes along with it. He summons his Keyblade. The moment he does, I take it. "Wai-hey!"

I hold his keyblade front-handed. I summon my Keyblade and plant the two weapons into the wall. "Hop on."

Ven hesitates but then climbs on my back. As soon as he is, I start climbing the wall using the Keyblades. Ven is surprised at my little climbing routine here.

"Patrick! How did you learn how to climb like this?" Ven asks.

"Yen Sid's mastery tests were pretty hard core." I say. "Back then, I was climbing against a waterfall with a boulder tied to my back."

"Wow. That's impressive." Ven says.

"You should see how I conquered the tsunami in the middle of a thunderstorm." I say.

I start climbing up the stone wall, in about a minute, we reach to the top. In front of us is a large dark sphere nearly covering the entire top. It's about a few inches away from the edge.

"Terra's behind this, isn't he?" Ven asks.

"Perhaps. I'm going in, you wait here." I say.

I was about to walk in until Ven grabs my arm and pull me back. "W-wait! I want to help too."

I turn around facing Ven. "I'm afraid you can't. Xehanort is too dangerous, and he has a...special relationship with you. If you come with me, he'll most likely try to make you into the The χ-blade again."

Ven thinks for a moment, he knows its true which is why he looks down in depression. "Yeah...you're probably right."

I nod then look ahead. "Just wait here." I walk into the darkness, pass right through the sphere like a bubble.

* * *

Inside the sphere, the whole thing is a black and purple land of darkness, it's similar to the viewing of the Realm of Darkness and Riku's battlefield against Ansem in the Sora's Dreams (The first one right after the Anti-Black Coat Nightmare).

I walk for a few feet then stopped as soon as I see Terranort, his back facing me. I just stand in place glaring at the dark man. "So, you have come after all." Terranort turns, looking at me with that smirk of his.

"Why shouldn't I?" I ask.

Terranort chuckles. "I don't know, cause of your little friend." I raise an eyebrow hearing that. "Why don't you be a good little boy and hand him over to me?"

"That's never going to happen." I say protectively. "What's really going to happen is you're going to release Terra from your grasp!"

"Well, then I guess we're going no where then." Terranort says. "I'm fine with that, but don't you have someone to find...while she's still alive."

I cast a Firaga spell at Terranort. "Shut up!"

Terranort blocks the spell with a dark shield. I was caught by surprised from the barrier. "Do you really think you can harm me that easily?" Terranort ends his barrier spell. "I have seen you fight, you are very skillful indeed."

"Fluttery gets you no where." I say. "Before I slice you in half, tell me: Why are the Shadowmoon after me? What do they want with Aqua?"

There's nothing but silence from Terranort, then he ends up laughing. "Man...you really are clueless, aren't you?" What's that suppose to mean? "All right...I suppose I'll shade some light. You are aware of the Shadowmoon's goal, aren't you?" I nod. "Well, there is one LeiShen left in the whole world, and both you and Aqua are tied to that LeiShen."

'Tied to that LeiShen'...Does he mean... "What are you talking about?"

"Sorry, I'm not just gonna spell it out. If you wish to know, then find the Shadowmoon leader...Find Rasputin." Terranort says.

"Rasputin...the one who betrayed the LeiShen's." I say under my breath. I sudden realized something, the records said he was possessing the darkness. It is possible... "Tell me, do you have anything to do with Rasputin?"

"Looks like you're catching on." Terranort says. "But if you must know, I am the reason the LeiShen's are long gone." I gasp hearing that. "After Rasputin was banished, I have heard that he seeks revenge against them, that he wants every one of them dead. So I granted his wish and bestowed him the power of darkness."

"Why would you do this? What did the LeiShen's ever..." As soon as I'm about to ask, I found my own answer.

What is Xehanort's goal? Kingdom Hearts. Who are the LeiShen's? The guardians of Kingdom Hearts. If he were to try and take it while they're still alive, they would have stopped him. But if they weren't around...

"You..." I look directionly at Xehanort. "You did it for Kingdom Hearts! You wanted the LeiShen's out of the way so Kingdom Hearts can be yours."

Terranort smirks. "Clever boy. You've figured it out. I was merely using Rasputin as a part of my plan while I forged the χ-blade to unlock Kingdom Hearts. He was the perfect pawn to my game."

"You sick twisted bastard!" I summon my Keyblade. "You will pay for everything you've done!"

Terranort chuckles then summons his Keyblade, Dark Impulse. (The Master Xehanort Keyblade) "I'll be looking forward to it."

Terranort does Shadow Rush, sliding in dark energy towards me. He stops right in front of me to attack but I block with Holy Shield then counterattack with Counter Aura, unleashing dark magic around me. I strike at Terranort three times then do Explosion, charging at start then unleash light magic all around me. Terranort positions himself to guard. I can see what he's trying to do, I'm not falling for it.

Instead, I use my Ventus Charm, I become coated in wind light and hold my Keyblade backhanded like Ventus does and I do in Fever Pitch. Once his guard is down, Terranort Shadow Rushes close until he's right behind me, then he unleashes Quakega. "You will break!"

I failed to block or evade the attack so I end up being launched into the air. As soon as I recover, Terranort does Dark Bolt, shooting a barrage of shadow bolts at me. I block with Holy Shield and the bolts reflect back to Terranort. I strike at Terranort as he's being staggered from his own bolts, then I unleash Areoza, unleashing a large sphere of wind blowing in all directions within.

Terranort recovers then does Dark Ars Solum. It's similar to Ars Arcanum, only it ends with three heavy swings. I block the whole thing with Holy Shield. As soon as the final strike happens, I do Counter Aura. I strike at Xehanort then unleash Faith, unleashing a massive aura of light hurting Terranort and healing myself, and Thunderbolt, unleashing massive volts of electricity all around me. Terranort teleports further away then does Dark Volley, rapidly shooting shadow bolts at all directions. I evade each of the bolts then use Holy Shield on the rest.

I reach my full power and unleash Cyclone, floating few feet of the air and then spin at high speed unleashing wind strikes at Terranort.

The battle is rough. Me and Terranort charge at each other and our Keyblades clash. We are face to face, pushing our weapons against each other with all of our strength. Terranort smirks and chuckles. "You are powerful, boy. You remind me a lot like of Aqua when we last battled."

"I am her living legacy, Xehanort, and I will do what I must to fulfill her final wishes." I say. "I will finish what she started all those years ago, even to my dying breath!"

I push Terranort back. Terranort leaps back, and as soon as he lands, he starts his Ultima Cannon. I was shocked to see his Keyblade turn into the large cannon. Terranort smirks as the cannon charges.

"Dodge this!" Then fires.

As the large energy ball is flying towards me, I block with Holy Shield. The Ultima Cannon must be much more powerful then the Lingering Wills. My Holy Shield doesn't reflect it, but just pushes me back. I stand my ground, the very earth my feet stands breaks from my sliding.

I soon stop sliding back, grunting with rage as I hold the energy ball back. With all of my strength, I push it back, and it explodes on Terranort. Terranort is still standing his guard, behind his barrier. I was surprised to see that barrier, I was sure I got him.

"Okay..." The barrier vanishes. "I'm done playing these games." Terranort is coated with darkness as he floats off his feet. "I will bury you in the black abyss!"

Terranort unleashes a massive energy of darkness. The darkness blasts at me but I stand my ground resisting the darkness. After a minute, the blowing force dies down. I look but what I'm staring at left me speechless.

I'm looking at the giant Heartless Guardian that Ansem, Xehanort's Heartless, usually has, only it's like five times my size. Terranort stands protected in the large sphere shield of the dark guardian where it's hollow heart rests. It's pretty much like the second Ansem boss fight Riku had in Sora's Dreams.

"Oh...dear." I say. But that doesn't stop me, I know I have to stop him.

I strike at the dark guardian, directly where Terranort is at, a few aerial strikes then a Ruinga and Firaga. Heartless Guardian does its Shadow Slam, punching the ground in front of it three times. The first one knocks me back so the other two didn't really hurt me.

"Fear me! Boy!" Terranort casts Dark Shackles. Dark chains bounds me right in front of the Heartless Guardian, large dark orbs form in its hands and then it clashes them right on me. Hurts like Hell. In the end, it knocks me back. As soon as I recover I use Curaga and run back to the Hearltess Guardian. As soon as I'm there, the Heartless Guardian casts Dark Volley. I block most of the bolts then continue attacking until I entered Spell Weaver.

I strike with my arcane Keyblade, then Terranort casts Dark Ice. "Freeze!" Three beams of purple ice flies towards me. I avoid the first two but the third one leaves me completely frozen solid, right in front of the Heartless Guardian where I became vulnerable to its next Shadow Slam. The first punch breaks me out of the ice but hurts twice as much it normally does. I strike at the Heartless Guardian, then cast Solar Eclipse, channeling light power that allows my light abilities to deal greater power.

Terranort does Black Flare. "You! Will! BURN!" Dark flames gathers on me, forming a purple blue flaming sphere on me then it explodes. I heal myself with Curaga then do Explosion. My power surges deeper and I enter Heaven's Light. Heartless Guardian does Razor Shadows, shooting dark razor winds. After a current distance, they bounce back like boomerangs and hit me.

I strike at the Heartless Guardian then cast Halo to hurt it and restore myself. Terranort channels Suffocation. "Suffer in the dark!" A purple tornado surrounds me, holding me in place and hurting me. Once I break free from the winds, I do Shadow Dash, then after that, channel Sparkga. I reach my full power and unleash Heaven's Light. Terranort suffered a great deal of damage, but he's still standing.

Once Heaven's Light is done, I use my Quasimodo Charm, D-linking with Quasimodo. "Try to escape this!" Terranort does Shadow Storm, blasting half a dozen of dark lightning beams at me. Once that was done, I hurt Terranort and heal myself with Sanctuary. The Heartless Guardian does its Shadow Slam, making me weak once again. I cast Curaga then do Savior's Cross, striking twice at Terranort, upper strike first then a side swing, creating the Cross on Terranort in light magic, then the magic does an after slash of its own. Heartless Guardian casts Dark Bolt, which I block them with Holy Shield.

"You cannot run!" Terranort does Dark Abyss, causing the ground to shake and creating a fissure underneath me with black spikes with light green poison on the tips to rise up from the fissure and harm me. Once that's done, I keep attacking Terranort and the Heartless Guardian. I do Divine Judgment, channeling two beams of holy light at the Heartless Guardian, leaving holy marks on the ground. When the beams are done, the marks explode unleashing light damage.

I reach my full power and unleash Saint De Bell. Terranort is defeated by the fourth ring and I learn a new advanced command style: Black Maelstrom.

The Heartless Guardian dissolves and twitches in agony. Terranort just stays in place within the dark guardians heart. The Heartless Guardian completely vanishes into darkness, leaving Terranort behind.

Terranort stands on his foot and knee using the Keyblade for support. I stand a few feet in front of him, ready to strike. Terranort pants and looks at me. His mouth opens but no words come out, he groans then stands back on his feet. Just then, Terranort glows in golden light.

I gasp seeing this. This happened to him once fifteen years ago. "You again!? Stop...fighting!" I know he's talking to Terra, for the light is him trying to fight for his body. Terranort struggles to pull his Keyblade up, pointed directly at his chest. "Get out...of my heart!"

Without any further hesitation, I draw my Keyblade back and hurl it at him. A Strike Raid. "NO!" My Keyblade knocks Terranort's right out of his hands before he could impale it through his chest again.

Terranort is shocked to see his Keyblade fly right out of him. He reaches for it for he can't move cause of the light that's fighting him. The next thing he hears is me shouting, he turns to see I'm leaping towards him with Ends of the Earth drawn back over my head. Before he realizes what's happening, it's too late. I impaled Ends of the Earth through his heart, then I instantly turn the Keyblade like a key to a lock.

I leap five feet away from Terranort as he shouts in agony and unstable darkness bursts out of him, bit by bit, Terranort is lifted off his feet then a massive amount of darkness explodes right out of him. I stand hard resisting the darkness, it's twice as powerful as Terranort unleashed with Heartless Guardian.

* * *

Ventus is waiting patiently right outside of the darkness. He is starting to worry for me and Terra. But he is startled when the darkness is starts shimmering and bursting. Ven steps back, which is only one feet, the next he'll fall too his doom.

"What's going on?" Ven asks. "Patrick! Terra!"

A massive amount of darkness bursts right out of the barrier into the sky. Ven is horrified at this sight. After a minute, the darkness vanishes, so does the barrier. I stand in place positioned to resist the darkness. Realizing there's no more force assaulting me, I look around, seeing all of the darkness gone.

"Patrick!" I turn to see Ven running up to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I say. Ven looks past me, seeming surprised. I turn around. Terranort is floating midair, covered in the light. He looks completely sleep in thought.

He slowly falls down, until he's inches off the ground. Terranort's eyes and hair changes, back to blue eyes and brown hair. He's Terra once again.

Terra lands on his feet, and as soon as the light vanishes, his body collapses. Ven is worried. "Terra!"

Ven kneels to Terras side. Trying to shake him awake. I kneel to his side, feeling his wrist. At first, I found nothing, but I got a pulse, but it's very faint.

"He's fine, just passed out." I say, dropping his arm.

Ventus lets out a relief sigh. "Thank goodness."

Just then, a mist of darkness appears in the air. Alerted, I rush in front of Ven and Terra, summon my Keyblade positioned to fight. Ven stays back watching with worry. An image of Xehanort appears from the darkness. Normally I would strike him down, but I know he's just an illusion. It would be a waste to attack him.

"Well, well, well. I must say, you have left me speechless, son." Xehanort says. "Never would I ever expect anyone to free a young man from my dark possession. You truly are a Keyblade Master." Xehanort smirks with a single chuckle. "Enjoy your victory while it lasts. But mark my worlds: I shall return one day to forge the χ-blade and Kingdom Hearts will soon be mine."

Xehanort holds his hands behind him looking down at me. "As for you, young man. Go on and find your lady friend. But know this: When you find her, you'll be driven into the deepest darkest abyss without a single shed of light to save you, and I shall set back and enjoy watching you end up the same faith as your pitiful friends. Until we meet again. Farewell."

Xehanort vanishes. Even after he's gone, I still can't stop glaring at the direction he was just at.

I just hate that old coot so much.

* * *

We returned to Radiant Garden where Terra can rest and recover. The fight against Xehanort was pretty bad, I wouldn't blame Terra for falling into a coma. It's been hours and he hasn't woken up since we freed him, not once.

Me and Ven are standing beside him, waiting. Ven is starting to get worried. "Will he...ever wake?"

"He will. How long it'll be is quite unknown." I say.

Ventus looks at me. "What does Xehanort mean...when he said you'll end up in the same faith as we all did?"

"He's just trying to mess with me, that's all." I say. "After all, he did trick you and your friends."

"Yeah. That's true...What can we do now?" Ven asks.

"We wait." I turn around. "In the meantime, I'm going to keep looking for Aqua. Look after Terra."

I walk away and out of the room, continue on with my journey.


	25. Medals and Races

**A/N: The battle against Terranort was pretty wicked wouldn't you say? I think it's clever thinking to use Terra's Keyblade, while his spirit is within it from his armor, to free his heart from Xehanort's grip, just like Xehanort used his to control Terra. I wonder if that's how Sora and Riku are going to free him in Kingdom Hearts 3. When the hell is that game coming out? I'm getting *Holding out two sharp big knifes with a fiery background* EDGY!**

World: The Arcade

* * *

Once upon a time, there is a small building known as the arcade and little kids go there to have a fun time playing video games. But then a little girl has discovered something from a little game called 'Fix-It Felix Jr.', in the game there's a 'I'm gonna wreck it' word bubble, but nobody underneath and that's lame.

"Hmm...where's the wrecking guy?" The girl asks.

Citizens of the tell building pop their heads out of the windows and they all shout, "Fix it Felix!"

On the corner of the game, a golden hammer appears then Fit-It Felix Jr. appears. He jumps up to grab the hammer. "I can fit it!" He says with a word bubble. When that's done, he looks horrified and gasps, the building is completely undamaged.

That's right, there's a world inside this video game.

Felix Jr. stares at the gamer's vision while he's tossing his hammer and catching it, rolling his eyes to the side gritting his teeth as he's whisper calling for Ralph. The gamer commands Felix Jr. to rush and jump up the building, hopping window to window, trying to fit the damages that aren't even there.

Had enough, she calls for help. "Mr. Litwak!" Mr. Litwak approaches to the girl. "The game's busted."

Mr. Litwak takes a look at the game noticing Wreck-It Ralph is missing. "I see. I'll have someone look into it tomorrow."

Mr. Litwak put an 'Out of Order' sign on the screen of the game. This is not a happy day for Felix Jr. and the nicelanders. They all stand in front of the building looking at the reserved picture of 'Out of Order'.

"Ladies and gentleman...We're out of order." Big Gene says nervously, and the rest of the nicelanders are starting to panic.

"Without Ralph! We're doomed!"

"They're gonna pull our plug!"

And two of the huddles together screaming in fear.

Felix Jr. stands in front of everyone getting their attention. "All right! Everyone calm down." Just like that, everyone does. "Ralph probably just fell asleep in the washing room at Tappers again." The sound of a ringing bell reaches them and they look to see a train cart arriving at the station. "Oh look, here he is now."

Felix and the nicelanders approaches to the station. The cart is empty which surprises them, then some round yellow creature with a hose nose pops right out.

"Oh, why it's Q*bert. What brings you here neighbor?" Felix Jr. asks.

Q*bert speaks to Felix in this 'Q*bert-ese' language. "*Skull*%#*Bomb**Lightning Bolt*!"

Felix Jr. is shocked to hear this. "Ralph's gone Turbo?!" Everyone gasps hearing Felix Jr. say that.

Meanwhile, I am wondering around in some forsaken world. Everything's dark green glow with a large tower in the center. It's barren and abandoned, like some futuristic world with no sign of humanity.

"Did I arrive in the middle of Armageddon?" I ask.

The sound of gun fire startles me and I take cover. Realizing it's not meant for me, I stand back up. I look ahead to see some women in a space armor suit shooting at some giant robotic insects.

"What the heck are those things?" I ask. They certainly look nothing like the Heartless, or Nobodies...or even the Unversed.

The sergeant is shouting as she shoots rapidly at those Cybugs. One of them manages to get close and then eats her weapon. Just then, its front legs turn into massive guns. I'm left astonished seeing that.

I rush run in, summoning my Keyblade. I leap high over the Cybugs, landing next to the Sergeant. I hold my Keyblade in front of her facing the Cybugs. "I'll handle this!"

I start attacking the Cybugs, with a couple of strikes first then cast Gaia-Explosion, powering and channel five massive Ruin orbs then launch them all in a single Cybug. The orbs impact strikes on the Cybug then they all explode at once, causing a buff explosion twice as big and three times as powerful as a Ruinga explosion. That causes me to enter Spell Weaver.

The Cybugs dies from the Gaia-Explosion then more arrive to take their place. I strike at the Cybugs, some of them throws some hits at me as well. Striking with their legs or chopping their razor teeth. I strike at them, some of the dies from my blows, then I do Hurricane Flare then Duskga. My power surges deeper then I enter Black Maelstrom, being coated by the darkness and having a black-feathered wing on my left shoulder.

My attacks in Black Maelstrom was similar to how I attack in Heaven's Light, only my attacks are infused with the power of darkness. I defeat more Cybugs then more of them appear. Where the heck are they all coming from? I cast Magnega, once they're all gathered, I cast Thunderga then do Strike Raid. More Cybugs appear and get caught in the giant magnet. I reach my full power and unleash Black Maelstrom, aiming my Keyblade at the skies while channeling powerful darkness. A massive purple vortex forms with me in the center, spreading out about ten yards all around harming any of the Cybugs within.

Black Maelstrom ends, which defeats the Cybugs. More of them appear. I'm taking a few steps back while protecting the Sergeant. "Where the hell are these things coming from!?"

The Cybugs screeches and creeps up on us. A bright light happens from behind us, that's when the Cybugs stares at a distance with their eyes turning blue. They spread their wings and takes flight.

"Beacon up!" The Sergeant shouts.

I turn to see a beam of light on the tower. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of Cybugs are flying into the light, there the light vaporizes them. Typical insects.

When all the Cybugs are gone, the light vanishes.

"Attention! The Arcade is now closed!" An announcement says.

I'm confused hearing that. "Arcade...?" I whispered to myself

Just then, I get wacked in the head. I turn to see it's the Sergeant lady hitting me with her helmet. "What were you thinking, son? You trying to interfere with the program?"

I'm confused hearing that. 'Program'. What could she be...wait. The Arcade. Program. The scenery. I must be inside some kind of game. If this is one of the new worlds where it's based on video games. I'm impressed. I wonder if I'll run into the game world of Tales of Xillia.

"Uh...Program. Right. Sorry about that." I say.

The Sergeant walks around me, fingers on her chin getting a good look at me. "I've never seen you around here before...you just got plugged in?"

"Uh, Yeah." I hold a hand out, offering a hand shake. "I'm Patrick, from the game..." I think for a moment for a game. Something similar to my Keybearer role. Then I got one. "From the game Kingdom Hearts."

"Kingdom Hearts, huh? Sounds like a sissy game." Hearing that pretty much stings me. "Sergeant Calhoun. State your business."

"I uh...I got lost. Still trying to learn my way around here." I say.

"Well...you better hope your wondering around didn't cost you your game, rookie." Sergeant Calhoun walks past me, hearing towards some world exit. "Let's get you to Game Central Station."

"Uh...Sure thing." I say, following the Sergeant.

I look around at this world as we head for the train station. Once we're near the door, the Sergeant stops me. "Hold it! Listen." She seems on alert, I listen closely. I hear some kind of...bouncing noise. "Cybug!" Sergeant Calhoun takes out a gun, charged and ready to shoot. I summon my Keyblade on alert too. Me and the Sergeant looks around, taking baby steps as the sound gets louder and louder.

The sound stops as soon as Felix Jr. arrives at the edge of the exit, then Sergeant rushes an aim at him instantly shooting. "TASTE IT!" She shouts.

Felix Jr. is well alert and bounces and hops all over the place avoiding the bullets. My eyes fix on him, I can barely make it out it's form, then I shoot a Firaga, causing Felix Jr. to bounce towards us and falls at our feet. Sergeant Calhoun aims her gun directly at his throat. "Pint sized hatchling."

I get a good look at Felix Jr. "He doesn't look anything like those creatures." I say.

Felix Jr. holds his hands front of him for defense, talking fast in nervousness. "I'm Fix-It Felix Jr., Ma'am. From the game Fix-It Felix Jr." Felix Jr. starts to calm down as soon as he looks at Sergeant Calhoun. "Jimmy Cricket...Look at that high-defination...your face." The Sergeant looks surprised. "It's amazing."

"Sounds like someone's got a crusher." I whisper to Calhoun with a smirk.

Sergeant Calhoun sighs and pulls her gun away from Felix Jr. "Flattery don't charge these batteries, civilian. Now state your business."

Felix Jr. takes on his feet. "I'm looking for my colleague, Wreck-It Ralph. Q*bert saw him come in here."

"Impossible! Nothing gets past me." Sergeant Calhoun says.

Just then something blasts right out of the top of the tower. The three of us looks at the tower to see some shuttle flying all around willy-nilly.

"Looks like something did." I say. The shuttle flies in circles then it starts heading towards us at high speed. "Sweet mercy! Take cover!"

I take cover, on my knees and stomach hands over my head. Sergeant Calhoun and Felix Jr. stands aside. In slow motion, they see Wreck-It Ralph and a Cybug through the window shield, then the shuttle bursts through the station.

"Ralph!" Felix Jr. says with worry.

"Cybug." Sergeant Calhoun says shortly after Felix Jr, but with horror.

The shuttle bursts right out of the entrance to Hero's Duty, bouncing all over the walls like a ball in a pinball machine then blasts right into the tunnel leading towards Sugar Rush. Ralph screams as the shuttle flies through the cotton candy skies while he's also fighting off the Cybug that's attacking him.

Cotton candy gets into the engines then the shuttle malfunctions and dies. It crashes into the candy cane forest, sliding on the taffy goo until it crashes into a jawbreaker boulder on the edge of a cliff.

Ralph and the Cybug sits up to recover from the impact, only to shortly be ejected from the shuttle launched in the air. Ralph screams and he lands right on the top of a candy cane tree, while the Cybug crashs into another one further from Ralph and it falls into the taffy swamp to sink into it.

"Sayonara, sucker!" Ralph shouts at the pit. Ralph carefully climbs down the candy cane tree to the ground. "Whoa. Okay." Ralph wipes his body from any messes. "Now I can head back to Fix-It Felix Jr. and then-" Ralph looks horrified when he realizes something. What he expects to be a shiny medal hanging around his neck...there's nothing. "Oh! Oh no! Where's my medal!?"

Ralph nervously searches all around for his metal, but he's having no luck at all. He wonders around hovering his face inches from the ground.

"Hey mister!" Ralph jumps up, hitting his head on a candy cane tree branch.

"Ow!" Ralph rubs his head to ease the pain. He looks up to see a little candy girl hanging out on the lowest branch of the tree. "Oh, you scared me little kid." Ralph says all calm. "Didn't see you there."

"So what's your name?" Vanellope asks.

"Uh, Ralph...Wreck-It Ralph." Ralph answers.

"You're not from here, are you?" Vanellope asks.

"Uh, no. I'm just..." Ralph continues searching around. "I'm from the candy cane department. Yeah..." Ralph stands straight carrying broken cane twigs. "Broken twigs here. You know, cleaning up and stuff."

"Yeah. Sure you are. Hey, why are you hands so freakishly big?" Vanellope asks.

Ralph feels offended hearing that. "Oh, I don't know. Why are you so freakishly annoying?"

Vanellope sits up, looking around as she kicks her feet. "I don't know. Why are you so freakishly-" Something catches her sight and she gasps. "Oh sweet mother of monkeymilk! A gold coin!"

Ralph is surprised to hear that. He looks up at the top of the tree to find the medal of heroes hanging from the highest branch. "Don't even think about it! That is mine!"

"Race you for it!" Vanellope bursts, leaping from branch to branch, to reach to the top.

Ralph runs the tree and start climbing it like a monkey with ham hands. "Hey! Get away from that medal!"

Ralph is struggling to catch up to Vanellope. Every branch he climbs, she's climbing two or three. Soon enough, she reaches to the top and grabs the medal of heroes. "The winner!" Vanellope jumps right of the branch and lands on the ground. "I can now finally enter the race!"

Vanellope makes a run for it. "Hey!" Ralph releases his grip, which wasn't really the best idea. He ends up falling hard on the ground. Ralph can see the little girl getting away, then gets on his feet and chases after her. "Get back here you rotten cavity!"

Meanwhile, Felix Jr., Sergeant Calhoun and I are just leaving Heroes Duty. We're arriving at Game Central Station. I'm quite amazed at the sight of this world. It's like the grand central station of all gaming systems. There's Super Mario Brothers, Pac Man, Sonic, Zombie Slayer, Tomb Raider. All kinds.

No sign of Tales of Xillia. That stinks.

"Where could Ralph be?" Felix Jr. asks.

Serpeant Calhoun holds out a tracking device. "I got a reading of his trail...He was bouncing all over the walls...Then he..." We all stop our trails, looking up to see the tunnel leading towards Sugar Rush. "Sugar Rush. Those Cybugs will deserve this game like a chicken hawk in a cradle of roosters."

"Beg your parden?" I ask. Felix Jr. is confused as well.

"What, are you boys thick? There was a Cybug on that shuttle!" Me and Felix Jr. remain silent. "Do you even know what a Cybug is?"

"Can't say that I do." Felix Jr. says.

"Other then being those creatures back in your game, I got nothing." I say.

"Okay, so a Cybug is like a virus. They don't know they're in a game. All they know is eat, kill and multiply. And without a Beacon to stop them, they'll consume Sugar Rush. And do you think they'll stop there?" Hearing that reminds me of the Heartless.

"Yes!" Felix Jr. says with excitement.

I was about to speak then Sergeant Calhoun gets into Felix Jr.'s face. "WRONG! Viruses! Don't! Stop!" Sergeant Calhoun stands up straight, looking at all the other tunnels of the station. "Once they finish off Sugar Rush, they'll invade every other game until this Arcade is nothing more then a smoking hut of forgotten dreams."

"Well then let's find that Cybug and stop it." I say.

Sergeant Calhoun takes off her pack, which turns into some hover board. I bring forth my Hoverbik. Felix Jr. just catches a ride on Sergeant Calhoun then we all make our way to Sugar Rush.

Meanwhile, Sugar Rush is starting it's random roster race for tomorrow's avatars to race in the game. Sour Bill makes and introduction announcement for King Candy, in a wither dull sour attitude. Seriously, it's like this cough drop has no emotions at all.

"All hail the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush: King Candy." King Candy bursts out of the curtains from his throne seat.

"Hello my loyal subjects!" He says with such enthusiasm. He tosses candy all around. "Have some candy!" All of the candy citizens are cheering and reaching for candy. Yeesh, talk about cannibals.

King Candy makes an announcement thanking todays avatars for today's races, now it's the time to choose tomorrows avatars with a race, the fee for the race is a golden coin and so on. Vanellope hides in the shadows, putting on her hoodie as she makes her way to the end of the line.

One-by-one, each of the fifteen racers, including King Candy and leaving out Vanellope, are entering their fee for the race. Finally, it's Vanellope's turn. She takes out the medal and tosses it into the racing cup. King Candy notices the last racer, but doesn't recognize her.

"Sour Bill. Who's that racer in the back?" King Candy asks with unpleasant curiosity.

The medal enters in the cup, then desolves into code. The racer board announces 'Vanellope Von Schweetz'. Vanellope removes her hood, jumping with joy. "Yes! I'm in the race!" Her excitement causes her to glitch.

King Candy is astonished with horror. "Vanellope!?" All of the audiance and racers are horrified to hear the surprising news about Vanellope joining the race. "Calm down everybody. Everything's under control. SECURITY!"

Two security guards, a donut and an eclair, approaches to Vanellope. The candy girl makes a run for it, then they end up chasing after her. Vanellope makes it to the end of the tracks then Ralph jumps out of no where, blocking her way.

"You!" Vanellope and the guards stops and looks worried seeing Ralph. "Give me back my medal you rotten thief!"

Ralph smashes his massive hands on Vanellope, who avoids the attacks. Vanellope runs right under Ralph retreating into the tall lollipop grasses. Ralph turns and goes after her. "Come back here, you!"

The guards didn't bother chasing after them, but King Candy isn't too happy that Vanellope is entering the race.

Ralph chases Vanellope all over the lands of Sugar Rush, breaking any objects or obstacles Vanellope crawls under of hides behind. Finally, he catches up, holding her up in front of his face.

"I gotcha yea you little thief!" Ralph says.

"I'm not a thief! I only borrowed your stupid coin. I was gonna give it back to you as soon as I won the race." Vanellope says.

"It's not a coin. It is a medal!" Ralph says annoyed.

"Coin. Medal. Whatever. Just go back to your dumb game and win another one." Vanellope says.

Ralph drops Vanellope. Vanellope falls on the ground saying 'Ow'. "I didn't win it from my game. I won it over at Heroes Duty."

Vanellope looks up at Ralph surprised. "Heroes Doodie?" Vanellope snickers.

"It's not that kind of duty!" Ralph says.

"I bet you better watch your step in a game called 'Heroes Duty'." Vanellope bursts out laughing. "What did you get a medal for? Wiping?" Ralph was about to speak then Vanellope interrupts. "One more. One more. Why did the hero flush the toilet...go on, ask."

"Why?" Ralph says, irritated.

"Cause it was his doodie!" Vanellope laughs at her terrible joke.

"How dare you insult Heroes Duty!" Ralph says offended. "Listen here you little brat, you better give me back my medal!"

"Sorry, but I already used it to pay my fee to enter the race. It'll stay that way until someone wins the cup at the end of the race." Vanellope explains. "Listen, you need that medal back. Well I need a go-kart to win the race."

Ralph can see where this is going. "You want me...you help you?" Ralph isn't too pleased with that idea.

"All you need to do is break a few things for me. What do yea say..." Vanellope reaches out her hand for a shake. "Friend?"

Ralph hesitates, then groans in displeasure. "You better win!" Then shakes her hand.


	26. The Glitch

**A/N: Bet you guys never expected Wreck-It Ralph to be in Kingdom Hearts, huh? That would have been neat, wouldn't it? To play a video game where the world itself is a game as well. I've felt that way when I was playing .Hack. I think it's ironic how my character self is using Kingdom Hearts as a gaming world in the Arcane, wouldn't you say?**

World: The Arcade

* * *

Sergeant Calhoun, Felix Jr. and I are riding through the skies in Sugar Rush. We can see this game is a candy-themed world. And Sergeant Calhoun called my fake game, Kingdom Hearts, a sissy game. We arrive at the starting trail of Ralph's crash landing, noticing all of the destroyed candy cane trees.

"I gotta say. They don't exactly call your friend 'wreck-it' for nothing." Sergeant Calhoun says.

"Same here." I say. The end of the trail comes within our sights. "The shuttle!"

Sergeant Calhoun and I land our rides by the shuttle. We get off, with Calhoun armed with the gun, and approach the shuttle. We look inside with Sergeant Calhoun aiming her gun in it ready to shoot.

"Is he in there?" Felix Jr. asks.

"Negative." I say.

Serpeant Calhoun retreated her gun from inside the shuttle. "He's lucky. I would have slapped his corpse." Sergeant Calhoun notices the Cybug is gone too. "No Cybug either..." Felix Jr. joins in and Sergeant Calhoun puts away her gun. "We've gotta find it before it lays its filthy eggs."

"Well we need to find Ralph before my game gets unplugged." Felix Jr. says.

I put fingers on my chin, thinking. "It'll take too long to find both." Sergeant Calhoun and Felix Jr. looks at me. "I say we split up to cover more ground. Sergeant, you find the Cybug. Felix and I will look for the joker."

"All right. Be careful out there, boys. If you die outside your game, you don't regenerate." Sergeant Calhoun warns.

I have nothing to worry about that since I don't really live in this world.

Sergeant Calhoun follows around the trail Ralph made, using some tracker to locate the Cybug. Me and felix Jr. slide down the cliff, starting are trail here at the bottom of the cliff. Felix Jr. screams looking ahead. I turn to see there are Heartless. Chocolate Statue, a Gargoyle Heartless made out of chocolate, Bitter Maccaron, an air spell caster like the Red Nocturnes and such, but made out of macaron's, Cruel Sweets, a Red Armor heartless made out of candy.

It's stupid, all the Heartless here are candy themed as well.

"Heartless!" I summon my Keyblade, standing in front of Felix Jr. "Stay back, Felix."

The fight off the Heartless, swinging my Keyblade at them. The Chocolate Statues are tough fighters. They're wet chocolate yet they fight like they're hardened. How the heck is that even possible? I cast Zero Graviga, sending all the Heartless, except the Cruel Sweets who has no effect to it, midair.

I focus on the Cruel Sweets since it's the only attacking Heartless standing. I use my Elsa Charm, activating the D-link. Cruel Sweets makes it strikes with is fists and feet. I block with Holy Shield then counterattack with Counter Aura. I strike at Cruel Sweets, then rush away from it to cast Ice Barrage, causing three pillars of ice, two smalls then a large in between, to raise beneath the Cruel Sweets.

Zero Graviga wears off from the Heartless, I cast Howling Wind, casting a snowy wind at the enemy, it's basically an ice-element version of the Aero spells. Howling Wind finishes off the Bitter Maccaron's and a Chocolate Statue. The Chocolate Salutes strikes at me, but I parry their attacks, I pull them back then cast Blizzarza, shooting an orb of ice at them, it sticks to it for a second then icicles pops right out of it like it came from the inside of the Heartless.

The Chocolate Statues fall, it's now just me and Cruel Sweets. Cruel Sweets strikes with it's marching feet and spinning torso. I dodge the torso and block the feet, then continue attacking. I reach my full power and unleash Let It Go, destroying Cruel Sweets.

My Keyblade vanishes once the Heartless are defeated. "So the Heartless are here too, huh?" I wondered.

"Heartless?" I turn around to see Felix Jr. looking confused. "Is that what they're called?" I nod. "Are they from your game?"

"Uh...sure, let's go with that." I turn around, facing ahead. I look at the distance to find some castle. "Let's head over to that castle. Maybe anyone there might know where your friend is that." We start walking towards the castle, with me in the lead. "With the Heartless around here, we should stay close. Anyways, what's the deal with that wreck-it joker? Why did he go awol?"

"Oh, I wish I knew. Last night was our thirtieth-year anniversary of Fit-It Felix Jr, then he was acting all squrriely about cake and medals...I just never expected him to go Turbo." I was confused at hearing the 'go Turbo' part.

"'Go Turbo'? What the heck does that mean?" I ask.

"That's right! You just go plugged in, didn't you?" Felix Jr. starts explaining the story.

Back then the Arcade first opened, there was a racing game known as 'Turbo Time.' It was, by far, the most popular game, and Turbo loves the attention. But then another racing gamed known as 'Roadblasters' comes in and stoled Turbo's thunder. Consumed by envy, he abandoned his game to join Roadblasters, but his plan backfired and he ended up putting both games and himself out of order...for good!

"Yes, the selfish man is like a mangy dog chasing a cautionary tail." I say.

"I know. That's why I have to get Ralph back or that'll happen to my game." Felix Jr. says.

We have arrived at the gates of the candy castle. I just stand in front of it with Felix Jr. behind me. I grab the hop-pop and knock it on the door. After a moment, the door opens. We look inside to see nothing.

"Yes?" A voice asks. We wondered where that voice came from until we look down to see Sour Bill. "I'm sorry, but King Candy isn't expecting any visitors."

"We're not here to see the king." I say. "We're here too-"

"Sour Bill! Who's at the door?" King Candy comes out seeing me and Felix Jr.

"Oh, I'm Patrick from the new game Kingdom Hearts." I say with a lie. "We're looking for Wreck-It Ralph from..." I turn to Felix Jr. "I'm sorry, I didn't get the name of your game."

"Fit-It Felix Jr." Felix Jr. says.

"Of course..." I turn back to Sour Bill and King Candy. "Anyways, have you seen him?"

"Wreck-It Ralph? Is he big, messy, large hands, halitosis stench, have a bit of a lot of temper?" King Candy says.

"That's him alright." Felix Jr. says.

"Yeah. We saw him! Jump right in a middle of our random race roster and chased away the glitch." King Candy says.

I raise an eyebrow hearing that. "A glitch?"

"Yes. Vanellope Von Schweetz. She arrived when we got plugged in, and she's not really meant to exist." King Candy says. "She's been trying to enter the race ever since, but she somehow got a gold coin and entered the race."

"Sorry about your problems, but where's Ralph?" I ask.

"I don't know. He could be anywhere." King Candy says. "Now, if you two won't mind. I have a glitch to deal with."

"Of course, your candiness." I say.

Me and Felix Jr. turns and start to leave. Looks like we're caught in between a rock and a hard place. Just then, the two guards rushes right in.

"King Candy! We've received report! The glitch is in the bakery!" The donut says.

"What! ...No! She could be making a go-kart for the race!" King Candy says with worry.

The glitch...if Ralph was chasing her, maybe she can lead us to Ralph. "Then let's get to the bakery." I say.

Meanwhile, at the bakery.

"What, are you some wanted criminal?" Ralph asks.

Vanellope asked Ralph to do a little smashing to get into the bakery so she could make a go-kart. But what's stopping him is the giant poster on the door that says 'No glitches allowed' with an angry picture of Vanellope in a don't circle.

"Hey! We made a deal. Don't go backing out, mister." Vanellope says.

Ralph groans then knocks down the sealed door in just one blow. Vanellope rushes right in, with Ralph walks right behind her like he doesn't even care. Ralph notices inside is empty, just curtain walls with 'Select your kart' signs.

"Where are the go-karts?" Ralph asks.

"You gotta make your own." Vanellope says. She runs towards one of the selections and chooses it, then they enter some mini-game where they have to make a go-kart in under a minute.

So they play this little game, making the go-kart, only Ralph has wrecked everything. Well not the first stage, putting ingredients in the bowl. That's Vanellope's doing by putting all the garbage in the bowl. If anything, Ralph tries to fix that one. But he did break the pump for heating up the oven, made it up by blowing into the tube. Nearly died of suffocation even. He did however destroyed everything in the final stage.

All of the icing, sprinkles, frosting. Everything candy themed spills on the conveyor belt, onto Vanellope's go-kart.

"Congratulations, racer! Here's your go-kart!"

In the end, Vanellope's Go-kart is all messed up, all the chocolate, icing and frosting mixed together, using different kind of wheels even. Basically, it's one ugly go-kart. But she loves it anyway.

However, this was a bad time for them. King Candy, me and Felix arrive at the bakery. "We got you now, glitch!" King Candy is surprised to see Ralph. "And Wreck-It Ralph?"

"Felix!" Felix Jr. says with excitement.

"Felix?" Ralph says in confusion.

"Surrender the go-kart!" King Candy says.

Ralphs puts Vanellope in the drivers seat of the go-kart. "Okay! Time to go!" Ralph hops on the back and starts rowing with his large hands like paddles on a boat, and rides the car past us, out of the bakery.

"After them!" King Candy demands.

King Candy gets on his go-kart and Felix Jr. and I hope on my Hoverbike, then we chase after them.

Ralph is running the go-kart like crazy. Me and Felix Jr. are on his tail with King Candy following us from behind. Vanellope tells Ralph to get off the track and he does. Looks like he's trying to shake us off, but I make a sharp turn taking the new path. King Candy had a hard turn, losing some tracks.

We catch up the Ralph and Vanellope. "Pull over!" I shout at them.

"Fat chance!" Vanellope says. She looks up at Ralph. "Head for Diet Cola Mountain."

Ralph rushes the go-kart directly at the mountain, aiming for the two sugar-free lollipops. Vanellope and Ralph are escaping. "They're getting away!" Felix Jr. says. "Can't you make this thing go faster! How about this?"

Felix Jr. reaches over me to push the red button, but I grab his hand and retreat it. "Hey! Never touch the red button! Only I get to work this vehicle!" I barked.

I twist the handlebars, increasing acceleration. We're catching up to Ralph and Vanellope. I become confused seeing them about to ram into the mountain. "What are they doing? They're going to crash!" Felix Jr. says.

I was about to speak until I see then went right through it. "What the!?" I say completely shocked. I was too distracted by my astonishment to his the breaks or turn. I just ram through the wall into the mountains.

King Candy arrives to see we're all gone. What he doesn't know is the hidden entry within the mountain. King Candy wonders where we could have gone. Just then, a dark portal appears and Izu walks right out of it.

"You seem troubled." Izu says.

King Candy turns to see Izu. "The glitch is loose! She's going to ruin all of my hard work!" King Candy says with anxiety.

"I see. You want to still be the ruler of this candy-coated sugar land." Izu says carelessly. "Don't worry. My heartless will take care of the problem." Izu snaps his fingers and the Heartless appears. Candy-theme Heartless and racing Heartless as well. "You just get to your little racing thing."

Inside the mountain, the four of us are getting together. We do somehow end up in an argument. Telling Ralph to come back to his game, but he refuses until he gets his metal back. As it turns out, Vanellope doesn't know how to drive a real go-kart, which puts Ralph into disappointment cause that would mean he an kiss his medal good-bye.

"What is the big whop about this crummy medal?" Vanellope asks.

"This may come to a shock to you, but in my game, I'm the bad guy and I live with garbage." Ralph says.

"Cool." Vanellope seems impressed.

"No! Not cool! All hygienic, and lonely...and boring! And that 'crummy' medal was gonna change all of that!" Ralph says.

Just then, there's a massive explosion and we're all startled. We walk deeper into the caverns to find a huge hot cola springs and a massive of chandelier of mentos.

"What...is that?" I asked.

"It's awesome. Check it out." Vanellope takes a piece of chocolate and tosses it to the tip of the hanging mento. Two of them get knocked off, and as soon as they splash in the hot cola, an explosion bursts a pump of the hot cola.

We were surprised to see this. "Whoa! You could bring down the whole mountain doing that." I say. That aside, I turn to Ralph. "How is a medal going to change everything?"

"Cause last night, we were celebrating our thirtieth year anniversary of Fix-It Felix Jr." So I've heard. "And I got tried of everyone treated me like a criminal! They didn't even invite me and I was an important part of the game."

That's just harsh. "Is that why you left?" Ralph looks at Felix Jr. "All cause we treated you horribly?"

"Sounds like it to me." I point out.

Ralph and Felix Jr. looks at each other. Felix Jr. removes his hat, holding it in front of it. "Well...I'm sorry. You could have just told us. But because of you, we're now out of order and Litwak is pulling our plug." Ralph is surprised to hear that. "We need to get you back."

"Wait!" Vanellope jumps right in the conversation. "What about me? I need to learn how to drive."

I found a solution for this. "Ralph, you and Felix had back to your game and fix things over there. I'll take care of sugar cube here." Just like that, Ralph and Felix Jr. head back. I'm surprised Ralph left with no hesitation. "All right, kid. Let's do this."

"Do you even know how to drive?" Vanellope asks.

I can hear some sass in that tone of hers. "I chased you on my Hoverbike kid."

"Doesn't prove anything." Vanellope says.

"Okay!" I grab Vanellope and plant her in her go-kart. "Let's just forget about it and start the lesson, all right?"

I teach Vanellope a few ropes on how to drive. On the first few attempts, I end up getting bummped, hurt, and crushed by a peanut brittle spike she crashed into. After a couple of failed attempts, she's finally getting the hang of it, racing around the ground track.

"All right! Good work!" I say, cheering on.

"I told yea racing's in my code!" She says as she drives up a ramp.

Her excitement causes her to glitch, and somehow gain more altitude. I was surprised, mostly cause she's about to hit the furtherest mento stick. She hits the tip, causing about six mentos to break and fall into the hot cola. The explosion was big enough to cause the inside of the mountain to shake.

Vanellope lands and continues to drive, then I settle when the area calms down from the explosion. "Huh...they weren't kidding about her being a glitch."

Vanellope drives by me and hits the breaks. "So. How'd I do?" She asks.

I look up at the mentos. "Well...you nearly blow up the mountain." I look down at Vanellope. "You really have to get that glitch under control."

"Okay. Okay. I will." Vanellope says.

"You better." I say. "All right, I'm gonna go catch on ham hands and mr. contractor. You just keep practicing, and work on that glitch."

I leave Vanellope alone in the highly dangerous area hidden in the mountain so she can learn how to drive and control that unstable glitch of hers...Maybe I shouldn't have left her.

The path is surprisingly clear. No sign of Heartless or any of King Candy's servants. There's defiantly no sign of Sergeant Calhoun or that Cybug she's looking for. I'm hoping she's having just as much luck as Felix Jr. and I did.

After a while, I arrive at the game, Fit-It Felix Jr. It's pretty quiet. It's nothing but a night time scenery with a single building in the center. The building is coated in orange light, due to the light from the game screen seeping through the 'Out of Order' poster.

I enter the building. "Hello? ...Anybody here?"

"Oh, you're here." I look at Felix Jr. He seems depressed.

"Felix, what happened? Why's the place empty?" I ask.

"Everybody's gone. After I left, everyone panicked and abandoned ship. It's too late to save our game." Felix Jr. says.

That's not a good thing to hear. "Where's Ralph?"

Felix Jr. moves out of the way, showing me to the terrace Ralph is hanging out at. He's just sitting there, in front of the face of the game screen, looking down in depression. Felix Jr. and I walk right out of the terrace, to his sides.

"It's all my fault." Ralph says. "If I hadn't gone to Heroes Duty...none of this would have happened."

"It's not your fault, Ralph. You didn't mean for this to happen." Felix Jr. says.

Seeing this reminds me of my time back in the Olympus Colosseum. I nearly made the mistake of trusting Hades and killed Hercules just to bring Aqua back from the darkness. If I had sealed that deal, the world would have been driven into chaos.

I look up at the game screen noticing the poster is starting to fall off, one of the corners didn't stick, now it's dangling from the other corner. On the opening view, I see Sugar Rush. I wonder how Vanellope is doing. Vanellope...Suddenly, I noticed something on the side of the console. It's a picture of Vanellope on her race car.

Wait...

"Ralph! Look!" Ralph and Felix Jr. looks up at the screen, directly at Sugar Rush. "It's Vanellope."

"Yeah. What about it?" Ralph asks.

"If I recall, King Candy told us that Vanellope is a glitch, that she's never meant to exist." I say.

"So?" Ralph asks, carelessly.

"If she's never meant to exist...then why is there a picture of her on that console?" I ask. Ralph just looks carelessly confused, but then starts to look surprised. I look down at Felix Jr. He seems to get the idea. "Something's up, and I think a certain royal puffiness knows something."

Meanwhile, in Sugar Rush, Sergeant Calhoun is walking around the twisler field, holding her pistol gun out with the tracker on her. She's still in search for that Cybug.

"Where are you?" She wonders.

Her sensor is acting up, so she gives it a hit, next thing that happens is green dots are appear everywhere in it's beeping like crazy.

Sergeant Calhoun is astonished seeing this. "What the..." Now she's looking all around her. "Where...how is?"

Just then, she falls into some hole. She grabs hold of a twisler, dangling from within the underground. She looks down to see hundreds...no, thousands of Cybug eggs. They glow, dozen by dozen, as a sign of they're about to hatch.

Sergeant Calhoun gets a high view of all this. It's not a pretty sight for her. "Doomsday and Armageddon had a baby and it is ugly!"


	27. Turbo Speed

**A/N: Things are getting sugar high in the Arcade, huh? Get it? Sugar high? Ha, ha, ha. Ah well, but seriously, something strange is going on in Sugar Rush. Not only that, but it's doomsday for the candy-coated go-kart game for it's about to be invaded by Cybugs.**

World: The Arcade

* * *

Ralph, Felix Jr. and I hurried back to Sugar Rush. We figured King Candy is at his castle as usual. However, once we arrived, the Heartless are appearing all around.

Me and Ralph strike down the Heartless while Felix Jr. stays behind at a safe distance. He is meant for fixing, not for fighting. I have a strange feeling King Candy has something to do with the Heartless, he knows what we're up too and he's trying to hold us back.

We finally make it to the castle. I banging on the chocolate door like mad. "Open up King Candy! We know you're in there!" I shout. Just then, the door opens. Only it's not King Candy who answers, it's Sour Bill. "Where's King Candy?"

"At the track. The race's about to begin." Sour Bill says.

"Then explain something to us." I say. "If Vanellope was never meant to exist, then why is her picture on the side of the game console?"

"Uh..." That's all Sour Bill says for a while, then he bolts, making a run for it.

At maximum range, Ralph grabs him and holds Sour Bill close to his face, giving him an interrogation look. "What's going on in this candy-coated heart of darkness?" Ralph says.

"I don't know." Sour Bill says.

"Talk!" I bark at Sour Bill.

"No!" Sour Bill says with pride.

"We'll lick you." I threaten him.

"You wouldn't." Sour bill says.

"Ralph?" Ralph gives Sour Bill a big lick in his face.

"Ugh! Oh that's like sandpaper." Sour Bill says.

"Hmm...I wonder how many licks it'll take to get to your center." Ralph says in a threatening tone.

"I'll take it to my grave!" Sour Bill says.

I shrug my shoulders. "You heard him."

Ralph puts Sour Bill in his mouth. Sour Bill muffles and shouts inside Ralphs mouth. Ralph swirls Sour Bill around in his mouth, then he gets a shock like something attacked him. "Whoa! They call you 'Sour Bill' for a reason." He says muffled.

This goes on for the next five minutes.

"Spit him out." I say, and that's what Ralph does. Spits Sour Bill into his hand. "Had enough?"

"Okay! Okay! I'll talk." Sour Bill says scared. "Vanellope was a racer until King Candy tried to delete her code."

We're all completely shocked to hear that. "He tried to delete her code?" Felix Jr. says.

"So that's why she's a glitch." Ralph says. "Why is he doing this?"

"I don't know." Sour Bill says.

"Suit yourself. Ralph?" I say.

Ralph starts to put Sour Bill back in his mouth, then stops as Sour Bill speaks. "No, no, no! No! I swear I really don't know! He literally locked our memories as well. I can't remember anything, no one can. But I do know this: He'll do anything to prevent Vanellope from racing. Because once she crosses that finish line, the game will reset and she'll no longer be a glitch. I swear, that's all I know." he's now begging like crazy. "Now please don't put me back in your filthy mouth!"

This is the first time I've ever seen this cough drop. Ralph sticks Sour Bill to the wall of the castle. "Stick around." He says.

"I will. Oh I'll most certainly well." Sour Bill says with relief.

We gather together. "We need to find Vanellope and get to that race." I say.

We hurry to Diet Cola Mountain for Vanellope. The Heartless are the only things that are standing in our way. We don't have time for this. I start using my powerful abilities to help speed up the process: Shadow Dash, Ars Arcanum, Ragnarok. And for AOE attacks, Magnega then Explosion, Mega Flare or Gaia-Explosion.

We finally reach Diet Cola Mountain. There, we see Vanellope outside, with her go-kart being smashed by the Hammer Frame Heartless.

"Stop it!" Vanellope demands.

I rush right in with my Keyblade held out and slash the Heartless in one single blow.

We all look at Vanellope's go-kart, it's damaged, beyond repair. Vanellope walks to it and sinks onto her knees. "My...go-kart."

"Oh kid." Ralph looks at Felix. "Felix. Can you fix it?"

Felix Jr. takes out his golden hammer. "I can fix it!"

Felix Jr. bangs the go-kart all around with his magic hammer. What I expect it to damage it even more, instead it repairs the parts he hits with his hammer. In a minute, the go-kart is instantly repaired.

Vanellope is pretty amazed. "Wow! It's good as new!"

I cross my arms, slightly smiling. "I'll admit, that's impressive."

Just then, trumpets starts playing. We all turn to the direction to see the race from a far distance. King Candy's announcement goes on. It's fainted, but we can tell it's about the race.

"The race is starting! Let's go! Move it!" I demand.

Ralph gets on Vanellopes Go-kart and Felix Jr. hitches a ride on my Hoverbike, and we all took off at high speed. We didn't run into any Heartless on the way, even if we did, I would have taken them out.

At the race, King Candy and the other racers, the Heartless, are lining up. The countdown lights light up, all in red, until the last one, which is in green, turns on and all of the racers bolts into the tracks. We arrived on track, meters from the starting line.

"We're too late!" Felix Jr. says.

"We can still catch up." I say.

"Okay, remember. You don't have to win. Just cross that finish line and you'll be a racer." Ralph says.

"Oh, I'm already a racer!" Vanellope says. We all stop right in front of the starting line, Felix Jr. and Ralph hops off. "And I'm gonna win!"

Ralph and Felix Jr. smiles at Vanellopes convince. "I'm going with Vanellope incase of any Heartless." I say. "Let's do this!" Vanellope and I takes off, starting our race. "Just stay close to me, kid!"

"Only if you can keep up." Vanellope says, accelerating.

We race with all of our speed, we start catching up to the other racers. Once we cross the Heartless, they start attacking Vanellope. I drive near her, summon my Keyblade while driving with my other hand, and I strike at the Heartless. I destroy the Speed Demon's as we arrive at Gumball Canyon, the first deadly track where massive gumballs are rolling in the curves, trying to crush us.

Vanellope and I take evasive actions. Avoiding the Gumballs. We reach the end, which is a long range cliff. We use the speed boost and it bolts us right through the cliff onto the next track, the dessert swirl. We drive upwards on the spinning track. Just then, lasers are being fired on us.

Vanellope and I are surprised, we look back to see more Speed Demon's chasing after us. "What the? They're on our tails!" Vanellope says.

I look at the cherry bombs on the edge of the tracks. "Not anymore!"

I drive close to the cherry bombs, lighting the fuses with the thrusters of my Hoverbike. We're getting close to the tunnel on top, that's when the cherry bombs explodes, from bottom to top. We drive up the tunnel until we we ride over the ramp, flying to the skies and landing on the other ramp, by the very edge.

That was a close call.

Ralph and Felix Jr. are watching everything from the big screen back at the starting line.

"You got this kid, now let's finish this without any surprises." Ralph says.

Just then, Ralph gets punched right in the face, knocking him down. He was surprised, then looks up to see its Sergeant Calhoun from Heroes Duty, and she is not happy.

"Hope your happy, junk-pile! This game is going down and it's all your fault!" She yells at him. "That Cybug you brought here multiplied!"

Ralph stands up. "No! It died in the taffy swamp, believe me-"

Ralph gets cut up by hundreds of Cybugs suddenly bursting out of the ground. All of the candy people in the audience starts panicking and fleeing in terror.

"Bullroar!" Sergeant Calhoun says to Ralph. She takes out her gun and starts shooting at the Cybugs coming close. "Listen up, people! Head to game central station! Now!"

Felix Jr. and Ralph helps the citizens flee. But Ralph stops to look up the screen, he can see we're about to catch up to King Candy in Ice Crean Mountain.

King Candy is enjoying his sweet victory. Vanellope and I are right on his tail. "Hey, King Crazy!" King Candy looks back, and is surprised to see me and Vanellope. "Have some candy!" I use his own line against him as I bump right to his side, knocking him into the closed road that's going downwards.

"Sweet attack." Vanellope says.

We drive right into the cavern. We drive up the road, slowing down as we get close to the top, then we drive downwards at high speed like a roller coaster. Vanellope screams with delight, I can tell she's enjoying this. As we drive, King Candy arrives on the upper tracks, then his drives off of it, leaping towards Vanellope. Vanellope was caught by surprise as King Candy rams into her, causing her go-kart to be driving backwards with the front of it on King Candys kart.

"Get off of my track!" King Candy shouts in irritation!

"Vanellope!" I was about to help her out, but then Speed Demon's appears to attack me. "Out of the way!" I start shooting lasers from the front of my Hoverbike at them.

"What are you crazy?" Vanellope tells Candy King.

"I forbid you!" King Candy grabs his pole horn from his go-kart. "To cross! That finish line!" He starts attacking Vanellope.

I fight off the Speed Demon's until I shake them off. Once that was done, I see Vanellope in trouble. She eventally grabs King Candy's weapon, pulling it against him while glitching. Vanellope's glitching travels through the stick horn and into King Candy, causing him to glitch...and transform.

Ralph and Felix Jr. are seeing this and they are paying close attention to King Candy, for they are looking curious at what's happening to him. "Is that..."

King Candy's glitching grows stronger, until it causes them to turn into a gray racer in a white jumpsuit with a white helmet that has a big red 'T' on it. Ralph and Felix Jr. are completely caught by surprise.

"No! Way!" Ralph says.

Vanellope and I are surprised as well. "What the? Who are you?" Vanellope asks.

King Candy constantly glitches, turning from King Candy to Turbo. "I'm Turbo! The greatest racer ever!" King Candy says. So that's Turbo...King Candy is getting into Vanellope angrily. "And I did not reprogram this world to let you, that Halitosis-Riddled Warthog, or even that meddlesome boneheaded Keybearer TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!" Okay, now that hurts. "End of the line, Glitch!"

"Not on my watch!" I slam my Hoverbike onto King Candy's go-kart. Vanellope breaks free from her situation, turns her Go-kart around and continues driving down the track. I follow Vanellope from behind.

"No!" King Candy starts up his go-kart and chases after us. Vanellope and I leaves the tunnels. King Candy is just about to do the same, until a Cybug lands at the exit and shallows King Candy whole.

The path to the finish line is straight on. Maybe not so straight anymore. Cybugs starts bursting out of the ground. Vanellope is pretty shocked. I'm surprised as well. I'm guessing Sergeant Calhoun had no luck with taking care of that Cybug Ralph brought.

"Cybugs!" Few Cybugs land on the track, screeching at Vanellope. I drive right in front of her, shooting at them. "Out of the way, Parasites!"

I destroy each of the Cybugs that gets in the way. We're getting close to the finish line. However, our luck ran out. A ton of Cybugs swarm up on the finish line, causing it to collapse and fall apart. Vanellope and I hit the breaks, stopping in front of the blockade.

"Damn it! We're too late!" I say.

Ralph grabs Vanellope. "Come on, kid! We need to go!"

"But I didn't cross the finish line." Vanellope says.

"There is no finish line! We have to go!" Ralph says.

"But! Ralph! Wait!" We don't hesitate, we make a run for it.

The last of the citizens are fleeing up on the rainbow bridge to the exit. Sergeant Calhoun rides her cruiser while shooting any Cybugs coming in. I ride my Hoverbike close to the exit, shouting at everyone to hurry up.

Ralph, Felix Jr. and Vanellope are now arriving. "Ralph! Stop!" Ralph was about to cross the exit, only some barrier appears and it bounces Vanellope out.

Ralph and I are surprised to see this. "Kid, what are you doing?" Ralph asks.

"I tried to tell you. Glitches can't leave the game. There's no way for me to escape." Vanellope says.

Ralph is sadden to hear that. I'm not too happy to hear that as well. We can't just leave this girl here to die. There must be something we can do...

"All right, Felix, that's everybody." Sergeant Calhoun says. "Now we gotta blow this exit."

"What about the game?" Felix Jr. asks.

"Nothing we can do about it. Without a beacon, there's no way to stop these monsters." Hearing that gave me an idea.

"Beacon?" I turn looking at the tiny view of Diet Cola Mountain, remembering the hot springs and the mentos that falls in them. "That's it! Beacon!" I grab Ralph. "Ralph, you're coming with me!" I hop on my Hoverbike with Ralph sitting from behind. "Sergeant! Whatever you do, do not let any Cybug's leave the game!"

"What are you doing?" Felix Jr. asks.

"We've got some wrecking to do!" I start up the Hoverbike and we take off. "We'll meet you all at the finish line!"

Felix Jr. tries to stop us, but Sergeant Calhoun pulls him and Vanellope behind her was she takes out her gun. "Fix it! Get behind me!"

She starts shooting at the Cybugs that are crawling up on the bridge.

I explain Ralph my plan on the way. All we need to do is cause all of those mentos to break off and fall into the springs. Hopefully, that'll create an alternative beacon to save the game.

We reach to the top of Diet Cola Mountain. Ralph and I hops off and we start charging to the center. Ralph shouts and I roar as I activate my D-linking with Beast. Once in the center, we give a single powerful strike, causing a powerful quake on the mento ground.

As we strike hard on the mentos, some of them from the tips inside the mountain breaks and falls into the springs. pressure starts to break to the surface as we keep attacking with all of our strength.

"Keep going! Come on!" I shout. We give hard heavy strikes, up until the mentos seeps in, we're getting close. Exhausted, we stand in place panting. "Together...one more together." Ralph nods in agreements. We hold our fists and Keyblades back. "One..." Then something swipes at us and we get knocked against the mentos wall at the edge of the mountain.

"Welcome to the boss level!" A voice says.

Me and Ralph looks to see who is it, and we can't believe what we're seeing. "Turbo..." We say in unison.

Turbo is now a Cybug, in the form of a silverfish. "Because of you two! I am now the most powerful virus in the Arcade!" He chuckles with delight. "I can take over any game I want! I should thank you...but it'll be more fun to kill yea."

Turbo comes for us, but we rush out of the way before he strikes us. "We've got to blow this sucker!" I say as we run to the center.

Turbo laughs evilly. He grabs me by the feet and pulls me back, then he rushes to in front of Ralph. "Have some candy!" He smacks Ralph back saying that. Turbo summons some Heartless. Irritated, I charge in and attack them with Bestial Swipe, doing a cross strike with both Keyblades, and the slashes on the Heartless are three scratch marks together, like I swiped them with claws.

"Where do you think you're going?" Turbo attacks Ralph, but Ralph tosses Turbo over him, still running to the center. Turbo rolls into a ball, rolling towards Ralph, then grabs him by the feet. "I'm not through with you, yet!" Turbo spreads his wings and takes flight. "Up we go!"

I finish off the Heartless, but notice Ralph is in trouble. "Ralph!"

"Finish the job!" He yells at me. I look down at the mentos behind me then back at Ralph, trying to make a choice of what to do: Save Ralph or set off the beacon.

Sergeant Calhoun is struggling to hold back the Cybugs. She's been reduced to shooting with her pistol gun, and it's hardly doing much damage to the creatures. She's now out of ammo and throws her gun away.

"Fall back!" They start stepping back, until the glitch barrier bounces Vanellope back in.

Ralph can see the situation Vanellope's in. "Kid!"

"Oh! Look at that! It's your little friend." Turbo says with joy. "It's game over for both of you."

"GUESS AGAIN!" Turbo and Ralph looks down to see me ramming into Turbo with my Hoverbike. He gets knocked higher in the air. I get on Turbo and start attacking him, then I bite him with my fangs, causing him to yell in pain and release Ralph. "Go Ralph!"

Ralph starts falling, directly into the Diet Cola Mountain. Ralph positions himself, diving head on with a fist in front. He says his bad guy affirmation as he falls. "I'm bad and that's good! I'll never be good and that's not bad! There's no one I rather be...then me!"

Ralph dives closer and closer to the mountain then...

BAM!

Seeing the impact, I push Turbo away and fall down. My D-linking with Beast ends as I land on my Hoverbike. I dive straight into the the Diet Cola Mountain. I travel as fast as the Hoverbike can. I dive into the mountain, and I can see Ralph falling above the mentos as the massive amount now enters into the hot cola.

"Ralph!" Ralph looks up. Once I'm close, he gets on the back seat, and I instantly switch the engines to flip in reverse, and the Hoverbike starts flying backwards. I can see the explosion about to start. "Hang on! We're gonna blast out of here!"

I slam my hand on the red button Felix Jr. attempted to push before, and the engines blasts massive nuclear pulsefires. Nitro Boost. The hot spring does a burst explosion, it's so massive that the entire inside of the mountain explodes. The blast is right in front us, and we made it out just as the diet cola bursts out of the mountain.

All of the Cybugs eyes turn blue staring at the light of the soda-coated beacon and they start flying towards it. Turbo is the only one who isn't being subdued to the light.

"You fools! Why are you going into the li-" Spoke too soon. His eyes turn blue. He starts flying towards the light then constantly fighting the ultimate urge. "No! Yes! No! No-ye-no! No!" He's now right in front of the beacon. "Whoo-hoo! Go into the ligh..." At the last second, he comes to his senses and screams as he flies into his demise.

Ralph and I starts falling down and we crash land into a chocolate puddle. My Hoverbike end up being ruined from the crash landing, I was not too pleased.

So a lot of things have happened after we saved Sugar Rush. Nothing major, but Vanellope crossed the recently-fixed finish line. Her code and the game become restored and she turns out to be the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush. How charming, another princess for me to protect.

Felix Jr. was able to repair my Hoverbike. It's impressive how he can fix anything. I guess they don't call him 'Fix-it' for nothing.

"Well, I should get going." I say.

"You mean return to your game?" Sergeant Calhoun asks.

"Yeah. That." I say.

"That reminds me, we should get back to ours and try to save it." Felix Jr. says.

"Yeah." Ralph walks up to me, handing me a Ralph Charm. "Here. I found this at...well, at my place. I do'nt have use for it, but I want you to have it."

"Thanks. You're not such a bad guy, are yea?" I ask.

"I get that a lot." Ralph says.

I get on my Hoverbike and take off. This is quite an interesting world, but I know I have to find Aqua and Rasputin.


	28. The Lamp

**A/N: Wreck-It Ralph would have been an interesting world to visit in Kingdom Hearts, wouldn't you all agree? Well, now we move on to the next world. Hopefully I'll have a better chance looking for Aqua there then in some game world.**

World: Agrabah

* * *

I arrived at some desert city. I'm a bit surprised of civilization in the middle of some desert. I sometimes wonder how people live off in scorching heat. Well, it's better then Arendelle, mostly when it's nothing more then an icy tundra. The world wasn't so bad, it was actually the summer season when I showed up in that world, until Elsa lost control of her ice powers and sent the whole kingdom under ice.

I walk around the market row, passing through the dozens of booths selling food and merchandise. I'm not really interest in this stuff, unless they can somehow bring Aqua back.

As I wonder, I notice how the women are dressed. They start reminding me of Princess Jasmine back in Hollow Bastion...wait...maybe this could be her world? I see the large palace in the middle of the town, perhaps I should go check it out.

I sudden stopped when I hear some animal noises. I look down to see it's some monkey jumping. "What do you want?" I ask the monkey. The monkey suddenly stops and stares at me, subdued. "What are you gawking at?"

The monkey jumps on me, grabs my Wayfinder and makes a run for it. "Hey!" Not this again. I start chasing after the monkey. "Come back here you little!"

As I chase the monkey, I ran into some Heartless. Bandits, fat bandits, fortunetellers and Luna Bandits. Great. So the Heartless are here too.

I use my Ralph Charm, entering D-linking with Ralph. I glow in earth light, my hands turning into giant rock hands, dual wielding Keyblades. I strike at the Heartless with brutal attacks. My attacks even break through the Bandit's guards. My strength is inhumane linked with Ralph. The Heartless hardly have the chance to fight back, for my heavy hard attacks hits them hard, they stagger and become stunned.

I do Breaker, downing a X slash on the Fat Bandit, then hold the two Keyblades together doing an impale hard strike. (Similar to Sora's Guard break) I next cast Quakeza, similar to Quakega, only with boulders 1.5 times more size with a line of earth spikes in between each. Many of the Heartless dies, few remains. I finish them off with my full power: Building Wrecker.

A large pillar of earth rises behind me, with a few Heartless caught as well. "I'm bringing the house down!" I say as I rapidly strike the risen ground with my light-speed hard strikes, breaking the ground and causing the broken boulders to fall and harm any Heartless around the pillar. All of the Heartless are defeated then I continue chasing down that monkey thief.

I follow the monkey into some building. The room to goes into seems rugged and abandoned, yet it's like someone recently lives here. The monkey runs around until I stomp on its tail, causing it to scream in pain. I grab the monkey by the back and hold it in front of my face, glaring at it.

"Unless you want to end up as a fur cap, hand over my Wayfinder!" The monkey screeches at me. From its expression, I can tell it's not gonna hand it over. I summon my Keyblade. "So be it!"

"Abu!?" I'm on alert hearing that voice. I turn to see some boy walk in. Given his rugged clothing, I'm guessing he's a poor. "Abu!" The monkey screams then escapes my grip. It runs towards the boy and jumps up his shoulder. I'm guessing the monkey is his pet. The boy looks at my Wayfinder in Abu's hands. "Abu! Were you stealing again?" Abu protests, but the boy takes the Wayfinder from his hands. "You should be ashamed!"

The boy walks up to me, handing the Wayfinder to me. "Is this yours?" I snatch the Wayfinder from the boy. He seems a bit uneased with me doing that. "I'm sorry. Whenever Abu sees anything gold or shiny. He couldn't help himself...No hard feelings?"

I'm silent for a moment, then I put the Wayfinder back around my neck. "Just keep that furball under control!"

"Right." The boy looks at the Keyblade at my hand. "That...that weapon. Do you know Sora?"

I raise my eyebrows hearing that name. He knows Sora. "I do..."

"I'm a friend of his. The name's Aladdin." Aladdin offers his hand for me to shake.

I just look at his hand, hesitating to shake it. "Patrick." I look around this house. "I take it you live here?"

"Yeah. I'm just a poor boy living in the streets. People often call me 'The Streetrat'."

"Charming." I say. "Say...do you know anything of a princess named Jasmine?"

"Yeah, the princess of Agrabah." Aladdin says. "She's kind, smart, funny, beautiful. She's...oh, amazing." I can tell he's crushing on the girl. "Do you know her?"

"I've...met her once before. Didn't really talk much. What about you?" I ask.

"I rescued her from those Heartless. Of course that was before I knew she was the princess. She was just a citizen girl when I saved her. I love Jasmine, but she wouldn't want to date a streetrat like me." Aladdin says.

"If only you were a prince." I say carelessly.

"I know. And I will once I get to the Cave of Wonders." Aladdin says.

"The Cave of Wonders?" I ask, seeming interested.

"Yeah. There's a legend of a magic cavern in the desert. Inside that cave has untold gold and jewels. But, it has the legendary magic lamp." What makes the lamp legendary? If I were him, I'd stick with the treasures. "They say if you rub the lamp, you'll summon a Genie who will grant you any three wishes you want." I raise my eyebrows hearing that. "I've been trying to get the lamp, but those Heartless have been attacking me at every point."

"I'll go with you." Aladdin looks at me surprised. "I can fight off the Heartless."

"Really? Just like that?" Aladdin asks.

"There is one condition: When we get the lamp, I get a wish." I say.

Aladdin doesn't look surprised to hear that, but does seem a little curious. "Why? What do you want to wish for?"

"I'm looking for someone." I say.

"Who? What do you mean?" Aladdin asks.

"It's not easy to explain. But someone important to me was taken." I hold on to my Wayfinder. "This necklace, the Wayfinder, is all I have left of her. But I discovered she's still alive, and now I'm on a journey to find her."

Aladdin doesn't say anything, but thinks for a moment. "Just one wish...and that's it?" I nod. "All right. You've got a deal."

We shake hands, sealing our deal.

After getting set up, we start making our journey through the desert. We had to wait for it to be night since the day is obvious too dangerously hot for travel. There are no Heartless in the desert, I wonder why not. For a bunch of heart stealers, you would think they'd be brave enough to endure a sand trap.

After hours of traveling, I gave up. We are now just in the middle of the desert. "Okay. I don't know about you, but I give up. This whole legend magic cavern hunting is just a big waste of time."

"Don't give up. I'm sure we're close." As Aladdin moves forward, Heartless starts appearing. "Oh dear!"

I walk in front of Aladdin, summon my Keyblade. "At least things just got interesting."

I start fighting off the Heartless. Aladdin also lends a hand using a bandit sword he has. Question if where did he get it? I cast a Ruinga at the Heartless, knocking them in the air, then throw a couple of hits until I enter Spell Weaver. Many of the Bandits dies, but more Heartless appears in their place.

Aladdin made some kills of his own, but he does become surrounded by the Heartless. Seeing his predicament, I do Shadow Dash.

"Too slow!" I say before I make my attack. My attack ends being in front of Aladdin. He's surprised, then becomes more surprised when the Heartless dies a second later from the after slashes. Even after those Heartless are defeated, more keep on appear. I turn holding my Keyblade out. "They just keep coming, aren't they?"

Suddenly, the ground starts shaking. This isn't my doing, and I'm guessing the Heartless aren't either. They are looking around confused then they vanish. The ground shakes harder then a giant pile of sand starts rising out of the ground. Me and Aladdin gets caught and the wave of sand knocks us back.

We turn, sliding back in worry. "What is happening?" I ask.

The giant mountain of sand turns into a tigers head with glowing its and fire light mount. There's no fire but the light inside looks like there's a fire lightening it. I'm completely astonished to see this.

"WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?!" The tigers head says. It's voice is a deep boom.

"The legends are true." Aladdin says. I'm gonna go on a lim here and guess this is the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin stands up, approaching to the tiger head. "It is I: Aladdin."

The Cave of Wonders looks down at Aladdin, softly growling. He's judging the streetrat. "PROCEED! TOUCH NOTHING BUT THE LAMP!" Then the Cave of Wonders opens its mouth wide.

Aladdin just takes a look inside of the Cave of Wonders. I approach him from behind. "What now...Should we go in?" I ask.

"Yeah, but stay cautious." Aladdin says.

We entered the Cave of Wonders. So far, our path is just a flight of stairs. They sure are pretty long. I'll be surprised if they lead to the worlds core. We finally reach the room, an enter the treasure room. We are completely amazed at the sight of the room.

"Would you look at that." Aladdin says.

The room is filled with mountains of gold and jewels. I give a single whistle at the sighting of this. "Now there's a sight to see." I say.

Just then, Abu runs in like crazy, chasing after the treasure. Aladdin and I are on alert. "ABU!" Abu suddenly stops just as he was about to reach the gold. "Don't touch anything!"

"I'm starting to wish we left that rodent back in the city." I say. "Now let's find this lamp."

Abu hops back on Aladdins shoulder as we continue moving on ahead. "Well, at least we haven't ran into any Heartless."

Just our luck, some Heartless appears in front of us. That sure surprised us. "You had it jinx it, kid?" I ask in irritation.

Aladdin and I fight off the Heartless. The Fat Bandits became a hard fight, I end up casting Zero Graviga to make the fight easy. Suddenly, there are swords falling from the sky. I look up to see Bandits on the top of the mountains of gold.

"Damn it! Aerial assaults!" I say. After we've taken care of the ground Heartless, all that's left are those above us. All we could do is just avoid the hurling swords. "How the hell are we gonna get up there?" I ask.

As I stand there, wondering, the ground beneath me goes up. I notice I'm going up and become confused. I look down to see the carpet I'm standing on is floating. "What the?" The carpet soars in the air. "Whoa!" I hold on tight to the carpet.

What I do notice is that the carpet seems to be heading towards the Heartless on the high levels. I hold out my Keyblade and destroy the Heartless with a single swing. Aladdin stays on the ground impressed by the flying carpet.

All the Heartless are defeated. The magic carpet sets me down. "Wow...A magic carpet." Aladdin says.

I take a look at the carpet as well. "Well that's something you don't see everyday." The Carpet floats in front of us, curling around Aladdin. "Looks like it's taken a liking to you."

"Yeah. Maybe he can help us." Aladdin speaks to the Carpet. "You see, we're trying to find this lamp." The Carpet acts like it knows something then it waves at us to follow it then takes off. "I think he knows where it is."

We follow Carpet all over the Cave of Wonders. Strangely, this is not the weirdest thing I've encountered in my life. I'd say it's number 3, behind living in a world with frightening creatures and walking dead. You do not want to know number 1. I regret enduring that kind of weirdness.

On the entire way, we've encountered tons of Heartless. I end off fighting them all. Most of the time, I end up entering Heaven's Light, Fever Pitch or Black Maelstrom. Aladdin is pretty impressed with my power. Apparently when Sora was around, he only had lesser magic spells and just fought with his Keyblade. I'm guessing this was during his early first year of wielding the Keyblade, weeks after he was chosen.

We arrive at the lamp chamber. Carpet lands at the edge of the ground, pointing at the top of the tower with a beaming light at center. Aladdin and I looks up.

"I'm guessing our little trinket is up there." I say.

"Abu. You wait here." Aladdin sets Abu down. Yeah, I'm guessing that's not a good idea.

While me and Aladdin are hoping stone, to stone over across the water, Abu stays behind. He's not very placed behind left behind, but then he suddenly becomes hypnotized at the gleaming fight of a ruby gem in the hands of some golden monkey.

Uh-oh...

We both start walking up the steps of the tower of boulders. Aladdin takes the lead. At the top, he sees the lamp. He gets a good look at the lamp then picks it up in his hands.

"Well...here's the lamp." Aladdin says.

"Good. Now let's get out of here. This place is giving me the-" I stop talking as soon as I look back down to see what Abu is doing. I tap Aladdin on the shoulder, not taking my eyes off of the monkey. "Uh, Aladdin?"

Aladdin looks back to see what Abu is doing. "Abu! NO!"

It's too late. Abu takes the gem. "IMBECILES!" The Cave of Wonders shouts. We're in trouble now. "YOU HAVE TOUCHED THE FORBIDDEN TREASURE!"

Aladdin is looking pretty scared hearing that. I, on the other hand, am upset. "Oh that is it, I'm so skinning that furball into a pair of boots!" The cave starts shaking violently. Rocks falling from the sky and fire bursting out of the tip of the tower where the lamp was resting. "But first let's get out of here!" I grab Aladdin by the arm and start running down the stairs. I was dragging Aladdin at first, then he starts running along.

We made it to the bottom, only the water turned into molten lava. That's not good. Luckily, Carpet flies to us and we hitched a ride on it. "Let's move, Carpet!" I say, and Carpet starts flying away.

Our escape from the Cave of Wonders is pretty vein. Aladdin is steering the Carpet around to avoid the falling boulders and raising flames. What annoys me is Abu is trying to cling to me for life.

Out in the desert, the Cave of Wonders roars in agony as lightning strikes. An intense storm happens to add the drama effect of the Cave of Wonders trying to collapse on top of us.

We arrive back at the Treasure Room. All of the gold transforms into flames, burst up at us. We could barely escape from that. The stairs to the exit starts breaking apart. We're so close but it's still too far.

The Cave of Wonders starts collapsing. The Tiger Head melts, up until it's nothing more then a small mount of sand.

It's too late.

Meanwhile, at the Agrabah Palace, Jasmine is in her room. She's just sitting on the railings out on her balcony. She's thinking about Aladdin. The Heartless attacked her when she was sneaking around Agrabah while in disguise as a citizen of the town. That's when Aladdin saved her.

However, she has bigger problems. Her father is forcing her to get married and the law states she can only be married to a prince. But Jasmine doesn't want that. Every prince she's ever meet are nothing more then a bunch of jerks. She wants to marry for love, not for some fancy airhead.

The Sultan paces around in his throne. He's a bit unease since Jasmine keeps rejecting all of the princes. His royal vizier, Jafar, stands by the throne. He's just standing there calm and dark, petting his cobra staff.

"You seem troubled, sire." Jafar says. "Please, take a seat."

"Oh, Jafar. What am I gonna do? Jasmine only have three days left to choose a prince, but she's rejected every single one of them." The Sultan says.

"Be patient, my liege. I'm sure you'll soon find a young prince fitting to become Sultan." Jafar says.

"Wak! Sultan!" Iago says.

The Sultan makes his way out the door. "Oh...maybe I should talk to her."

As soon as the Sultan is out the door, Jafar sits on the throne, sighing in annoyance. "How much longer must we suck up to this chump!?" Iago asks in anger.

"Patience, Iago. Patience. Soon, I will become Sultan and not that twit." Jafar says.


	29. Prince Ali Ababwa

**A/N: I want a wish when I help Aladdin get the lamp. Bet you guys can tell what that wish is going to be. Question is: Will it happen? Would the story and journey come to an end in Agrabah? Why don't we find out as we continue on with the world of Agrabah.**

World: Agrabah

* * *

Out in the desert, there's nothing but sand. That spot where the Cave of Wonders once took place is now gone, nothing but then a mount of sand. Me and Aladdin pull ourselves out of the sand. We cough as the sand got caught in our mouths. Aladdin pulls Abu out and I grab Carpet and pull it out.

We barely made it out of the Cave of Wonders alive. I get on my feet, wiping the sand off of my clothes. "Well that was close." I say. I remove a boot and start pouring the sand out of it.

Aladdin sits down on the ground, holding onto the lamp. "All that trouble for this."

"It is a magic lamp, isn't it?" I ask.

"Well, yeah. But it's just a legend." Aladdin says.

"Let's find out if it's true. Remember, you owe me a wish for helping you get that lamp." I say.

"Yes, I know." I stand behind Aladdin, looking over his shoulder as Aladdin rubs the lamp.

From the rubbing, the lamp shakes and glows. The two of us lays eyes on it, expecting the legends to be true. But instant, the glowing and shaking instantly stops and a small puff of spoke pops out. Aladdin and I are disappointed to see that.

"Well that was a complete waste of-" I say with disappointing anger, but then something suddenly happens to the lamp.

Magical smoke bursts out of the lamp. Me and Aladdin are surprised to see this, guess the legends are true. The smoke gathers and takes a large form. When it clears, the genie starts the appear. It starts off as a giant, muscular, dark man genie, but then all of that ends and Genie now appears as taking a shower, back turned scrubbing his back with a stick luffa and, of course, singing.

"I'm over my head and I know it, I know it. I'm doing my best not to show it, to show it. Whatever it takes to be, what I was meant to be, I'm gonna try." Me and Aladdin feel disturbed seeing this. "Cause I'm living the dream and I know it, I know it. I'm trying my best not to-"

Genie turns to see us, then he screams like a girl and close the curtains on us. "Whoever you are you better beat it! Before I call the police!"

Another Genie appears next to us, me and Aladdin turns to it. Genie #2 appears as an army general. "What seems the problem here." He says with a new jersey accent.

"There's a burglary in progress!" Genie says.

Genie #2 is surprised. "A burglary in progress!" Genie #2 takes out a communicator. "All units! This is General Genie calling in a 19:53!"

Another Genie appears, dressed as a Sergeant. "The vending machine is all out of cookies?! Oh the humanity!" Genie #3 cries hopelessly.

Genie #2 slaps Genie #3 hard in the face, then grabs him by the uniform and shakes him. "Get a hold of yourself soldier! That's a 19:52! We're on a 19:53!"

"Oh...right." Genie #3 takes out a bugle and plays it, summoning a hundred Genie's surrounding me and Aladdin, aiming their guns at us. "You're both under arrest!"

"No! W-wait! I'm your master!" Aladdin says as he holds the lamp out.

Genie pops his head out of the curtains. "What's that? Master? Why didn't you say so?" Genie waves at Genie #2. "Nevermind, officers." All the duplicate Genies disappeared, and Genie changed out of his showering clothing to...well himself. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

I put a hand on my head sighing. "Are all Genies this stupid?"

"Hello there! I am the oh great Genie of the lamp!" A microphone appears in Genies hand. "And welcome to the show!" He holds the microphone in front of Aladdin. "Tell us your name."

"Aladdin." Aladdin says.

"And the name's Patrick." I say.

"Aladdin!" Aladdin's name appears in a gameshow sign. "Well Congratulations, Aladdin. You are the winner! And you're grand prize is three wishes!" The microphone and Aladdin's name sign disappears. "So. What will it be, master?"

Aladdin thinks for a moment. "Well, poor boy here owes me a wish. So there's one."

"Yeah, but I think I'll save that one later." Aladdin looks back at Genie. "I'll think about it when we head back to Agrabah."

We all agreed. Aladdin and I float on the magic carpet while Genie is flying next to us. "Ah! Fresh air! Sunshine! The great outdoors! How I miss it all."

"I take it you don't get out very often." I say.

"All part of the genie gig. Phenomenal cosmic powers, itty-bitty living space. It's always three wishes then back to my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two." Genie says.

"Well, that's gotta be rough." Aladdin says. "Say. What if I use my third wish to free you from the lamp."

Genie looks excited to hear that. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

"How charming, a wish for each of us." I say.

"Yeah. After I grant Patrick's wish, I'll use my last one to free you." Aladdin says.

"All right!" Genie's all full of enthusiasm.

We return to Agrabah. Aladdin is trying to decide for his first wish. He thinks about Jasmine and explains his love for her. But I remind him that she can only be married to a prince. That's when he decides his first wish:

"Genie. I want you to make my into a prince!" Aladdin wishes.

"All right! The fame! The fortune! The ladies! Royality! Why didn't I think of that? Okay! You asked for it! A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold! Just say the word and I'll have it delivered to you in thirty minutes or it's free!" Genie snaps his fingers, causing a door to appear in between him and us. Seeing that confused us, then there's a knock on the door. Aladdin opens it. Behind the door is Genie dressed as a delivery man holding a box. "Package for Aladdin!" He holds out a pen in front of Aladdin. "Sign here, kid."

Aladdin signs his name, then Genie hands him the package. He vanishes then reappears as himself next to Aladdin. "Oh! A package. What did yea get? What did yea get?"

I shake my head, putting my fingers on my forehead. "Am I the only normal one here?"

Aladdin opens the package. Like a cannon, Aladdins wish bursts out of the package and he instantly transforms into a prince. "Voila! You are now Prince Ali Ababwa! The second richest prince of Agrabah." A mirror appears in front of Genie. "Right next to yours truly." He looks at himself in the mirror with a charming smile. He snaps his fingers, the mirror vanishes and reappears in front of Aladdin. "Well. What do yea think?"

Aladdin gets a good look on his own reflection. "It's not bad, really."

"All right. Let's get this thing over with." I say.

Aladdin, or Prince Ali, and I head for the palace. The guards wondered about Ali at first, but when he mentioned he's to see the princess and that he's a prince, they let him pass. They didn't question me, which is good.

When in the Palace, Aladdin meets the Sultan. We also got to meet Jafar, who rubs me the wrong way. Sultan seems to take a liking with Prince Ali. Now he escorts him to see princess Jasmine, leaving me along with Jafar. Jafar approaches me.

"So...you're Prince Ali's royal servant, aren't you?" Jafar says.

I'm cautious with this man. "Yeah...what's it to you?"

"Do you think I'm a fool? I know he's that street rat, Aladdin." Jafar leans in close to my face. "I am the one who told him about the Cave of Wonders." I raise my eyebrows hearing that. Is he the one who sent the Heartless there? "I'll just cut to the chase: Why don't you and your friend hand over that lamp so I may rule Agrabah?"

"Fat chance, old man." I say. "I'm well aware of who you are, Jafar. A friend of mine told me about your actions. Stay out of my way, and I may let you live in one piece."

I turn and see myself out the throne room.

Jafar just stays behind, peting his staff as he watches me. "Oh, believe me boy. It is you who should stay out of my way."

"Oh yeah? And how is he going to do that? He's got the lamp!" Iago says.

"Trust me, my feathered friend. The lamp will be ours. All it takes...is the proper leverage." Jafar says with an evil smirk.

While Aladdin is trying to hit things off with Jasmine, I await on the garden beneath the Balcony of Jasmine's room. I'm right now playing Poker with Genie...and Genie...and Genie and Genie.

That's right, four Genies. A cowboy, a spear fisherman, a pirate and a bandit. I feel a bit weird about this, playing poker against four people who are all the same. Looks like number 2 of my weird moments got beaten. I hate to run into something worse then the number one crazy thing.

As the game's going, we hear Aladdin screaming. We all look up to see him falling out of the Balcony. The Genies start to panic and they run around trying to catch Aladdin, each of them saying 'I got him! I got him! I got him!' In the end, they all form a square, arms out and with their backs facing each other. However, each of their predictions were wrong.

Aladdin ends up crashing into the ground in their square.

The Genies realizes where he crashed and look at the body hole behind each of them. They all merge together back into Genie and he and I look down the hole.

"Sorry, Al. I meant to catch you." Genie says.

Aladdin pulls himself out of the hole, moaning in pain. "It's...all right Genie."

"I take it things didn't go well, prince charming?" I ask.

Aladdin stands up, wiping the dirt off of his royal garments. "No. She hates me! She just thinks of me as another stuck up, selfish royal pain she ever met!" Aladdin removes his hat, throwing it to the ground. "I should have known I couldn't pull off this prince wish!"

"Sorry, there are no refunds." Genie says.

I look at Genie. "You're not helping, you know." I look back at Aladdin. "If you want my opinion, you should just tell her the truth. Tell her you're really that poor boy who lives in the streets."

"He's got a point." Genie says.

"No way. If I tell her I'm really just Aladdin, she'll never want to talk to me again." Aladdin says.

"Kid's got a point there." Genie says.

I roll my eyes. Genie is really not helping out here. It's like he's really just picking both sides. "All right, then. How about I go talk to her? Maybe I can soften the blow."

Aladdin looks at me with hope. "You can really do that?"

"Sure thing." I say. "I'll be back in a jiffy."

I use Carpet to give me a ride to Jasmine's room. I feel like I'm gonna regret doing this, but I'll do anything to get that wish. Who knows, maybe I can make Jasmine like Prince Ali. I did help her back in Hollow Bastion along with Sora and the other princesses. Of course she could have forgotten about me...No, that won't be possible. Belle and Tinker Bell were able to remember me. Surely Jasmine would as well.

Carpet floats up on the balcony. I step right off like I'm walking down the stairs. I see princess Jasmine just sitting at her make-up table, all she's doing is looking at the mirror. At the angles, she can't see me from her own eyes or reflection.

I hang against one of the pillars of the entrance and knocked on it. "I told you to go away!" Jasmine says, not even bothering to look back.

Figures, another princess is rejecting me cause she things I'm some guy she can't stand has returned. "Is that anyway to treat your guardian, my fair lady?" Jasmine jumps hearing my voice. She turns to see me, looking surprised. "Nice to see you again, princess."

I start approaching Jasmine. "Oh...it's you. That guy who helped Sora fight off the darkness."

"Kind of hurts you don't even remember my name." I say. "It's Patrick by the way."

"Right...So, what bring you to Agrabah?" Jasmine asks.

"Long story. But that's not why I'm here." I take a seat on the side of Jasmine's bed, crossing my legs. "So...I hear a prince visited you...Ali was it?"

Jasmine is now upset all over again hearing that name. "Why are you taking his side?"

"I've met him. He's not such a bad guy." I say.

"Why is everyone so considered I should be married to a prince?" Jasmine asks.

"Maybe because you're a princess?" I ask.

"Well then everyone's wrong. Just because I'm a Princess doesn't mean I have to marry a prince." She may have a point. Belle is a princess and she's with a beast.

"I...suppose that could be true." I say.

"I just wish my father would understand." Jasmine says. "I want to marry someone charming, funny, who will marry me for love...like that boy from the market, Aladdin." I'm on alert hearing that.

"Aladdin you say...he some prince?" I ask.

"No, just some boy who lives in the streets." Jasmine seats next to me on the bed. "I ran away from home just to be like a normal citizen for the day. But then those Heartless came out of no where and attacked me. Aladdin saved me, but the guards found me and took me home."

I lay back on the bed, hands behind my head. "I'm surprised they didn't accuse the boy for taking the princess." I say.

"They did, but I order them to release him." Jasmine says. I'm guessing that's when Aladdin found out she's the princess.

"So let me get this straight: You would wither marry a streetrat...over a prince?" Jasmine nods. "Wow..." I sit up. "That's some deep stuff."

"Oh, that's quite lovely isn't it?" Me and Jasmine are on alert. By the door is Jafar, walking right in. "The princess wants to marry some lowly streetrat. How touching."

Jasmine and I stand up. I reach an arm out, in front of Jasmine. "What do you want, Jafar?" Jasmine asks.

"Nothing nefarious, princess. I just thought you and I could go for...a little stroll." Jafar says.

"Little stroll my foot." I say.

"Stay out of this, streetrat!" Jafar says. "Come princess."

I summon my Keyblade, pointing it at Jafar as Jasmine hides behind me. Jafar seems surprised to see me do this. "Back off!" I tell Jafar.

"Well." Jafar reaches into his sleeve, taking out a veil. "Guess we're gonna do this the hard way."

I wonder what he meant by that, but by the time I realize, it's too late. Jafar tosses the veil to the ground, unleashing a dense smoke. I cough in the smoke as Jafar sinisterly laughs. I cast a Aeroza spell to clear the smoke, only when the smoke's gone, so is Jasmine.

"Jasmine? Jasmine!?" There's no answer, but I do get Jafars laugh echoing. "Oh dear...this isn't good."


	30. Jafar's Wrath

**A/N: Jasmine is captured. Oh no, this is terrible! One of the seven princesses is held captive by the evil Jafar and the Heartless. If you guys can hear me, you would know I'm really fake worrying. I'm sure she'll be fine. If not...then we're all doomed.**

World: Agrabah

* * *

After the situation in the palace, I hurry back to Aladdin and Genie. I warn them about Jasmine's peril. I even told Aladdin about how she would want to marry him as himself instead of a prince. He seemed lost in his fantasy world hearing that, then Genie snaps him back into reality...by hitting him in the head with a frying pen. What is this, Tangled?

Putting all of that aside, we head out into the desert, where we believe that's where Jafar has taken Jasmine. We ride on Carpet and take off into the desert.

Out in the desert, Jasmine is stuck in the middle of nowhere, waist deep into quicksand. The Heartless have her surrounded, like they're trying to guard her. But guard her from what? Aren't they suppose to steal her heart?

We arrive just when she's neck deep. This was an unpleasant sight for us.

"This can't be good!" Aladdin takes out the lamp. "Genie! I need you to save Jasmine!"

I'm astonished hearing that. "What the!"

Genie appears right behind Jasmine. "A-wish number two coming right up!"

Genie snaps his fingers and the Heartless disappeared, then he's able to rescue Jasmine. Genie carries Jasmine up on the carpet. Jasmine was pleased to see Aladdin. "Aladdin!" Jasmine and Aladdin hugs. I'm just standing aside with a disappointed expression.

Genie clears his throat. Aladdin and Jasmine disbands the hug as Genie hands Aladdin a piece of paper. "What's this?" Aladdin asks.

"Your bill, my good sir. And don't forget the tip." Genie says.

"Oh forget the stinking bill, you just used MY wish!" I say.

"I'm sorry, Patrick. I panicked. Jasmine was in danger and-" Aladdin was interrupted by some unwanted company.

Heartless appears out of no where. The Fat Bandits, Fortunetellers, Bandits, Luna Bandits. One of the Fortunetellers casts a frost spell, hitting Carpet. Carpet didn't really like it. It shivers like crazy and flies around. We all fall off of Carpet and it flies away. Well, there goes out ride.

We get on our feet, surrounded by the Heartless. "We'll talk about this later!" I summon my Keyblade. "Jasmine! Get behind us!"

Aladdin and I handle the Heartless. I cast Magnega, causing the Heartless minus the Fat Bandits to be gathered into the large magnet. While they're gathered, I do Shadowbreaker. I enter Star Surge and the Heartless die from my attacks. More of them appears, Aladdin helps take them down with his quick strikes.

My Star Surge attacks hit the Heartless hard, but the Fat Bandits were able to block my attacks cause their fat bellies. In all honesty, they're annoying. "Too slow!" I say as I perform Shadow Dash. Seven out of the twelve Heartless dies instantly from my flash attacks. I finish the rest with my Gaia-Explosion spell.

Aladdin and I wait for the moment being, no more Heartless appears. "Is it over?" Aladdin asks.

"Hopefully." I say.

There's a sinister laughter. We are all startled by it, we can tell it's Jafar. We all turn to see Jafar floating in the air. "Jafar!" Aladdin says.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the pitiful streetrat, Aladdin." Jafar says.

"I knew you were trouble! You're gonna pay for kidnapping the princess!" I say.

"So you say. Only that's not going to happen, for you see: I have the upper hand." Jafar reaches to his back and takes out the lamp.

Aladdin and I are surprised. "The lamp!" Aladdin searches all around his pockets for the lamp, it's missing. "Jafar stoled the lamp!"

"That is right, streetrat! Now, for my first wish. Bring Jasmine to me!" Jafar says.

Genie is not happy with this. "I apologize, princess." Genie grabs Jasmine. Jasmine starts to struggle to break free as he floats to Jafars side.

I should have known this would have happened. Jafar simply used the Heartless to keep us busy and distracted while he tries to steal the lamp for us.

"Finally! I will become Sultan!" Jafar says.

Aladdin and I position ourselves to strike. "Not unless we stop you!"

Jafar looks down at us. "Oh, I don't think so. It appears you two have your hands full." Jafar holds out the lamp. "Genie! My second wish! I want a Heartless powerful enough to DESTROY THEM!"

Aladdin and I are horrified to hear that. Genie sinks down in depression. Aladdin and I plead for him to stop.

"Genie! No!" Aladdin says.

"Don't do it!" I say.

"I'm sorry, Al. But I'm bound by the rules of the Genie, and the rules state I must obey my masters every whim. I don't have a choice." Genie looks away, by averting his eyes, shielding with his hold hand whole holding the other hand in the air ready to snap the fingers. "I hope you can forgive me."

Genie snaps his fingers. The very ground we stand on starts shaking. Jafar laughs nefariously as he, Genie and Jasmine vanishes.

The ground shakes violently. Suddenly, a large crescent blade pops out of the sand, then another one, then in between the blades, a cobra head pops out. The cobra head looks at me and Aladdin, then it submerges into the sand so it's entire body pops right out of a sand.

The Heartless is the six-armed beast bandit: Kurt Zisa

Aladdin and I look at the giant Heartless. "This can't be good." Aladdin says.

Kurt Zisa casts Silencega. Aladdin and I are unable to use spells, all though it's only a con to me cause Aladdin can't cast magic. Aladdin and I attack head on the Heartless. Aladdin does rushing charge attacks while I'm striking with Shadow Dash. My power surges deeper and I enter Black Maelstrom.

Kurt Zisa strikes with Sword Spin, stands in place and spins it's swords around. I dodge roll out of the way then do a rush attack when it's clear. Aladdin wasn't too lucky from the hits. After a couple of hits, I do Hurricane Flare. Kurt Zisa dashes right through me with a strike attack. As soon as I recover, I attack until I reach my full power and unleash Black Maelstrom.

My dark command style destroys the dark orbs on the Kurt Zisa's hands. The Heartless collapses from it's minor defeat and the Silencega wears off. Once Black Maelstrom is done, I cast Curaga to heal myself and Aladdin. "Heal!"

Aladdin and I attack the staggered Heartless. I use my Fairy Charm to activate the D-link. I do my aerial strikes on the Heartless. Kurt Zisa is still staggered from the defeat of its dark orbs. I do Prism Rain, aerial strikes, charging rainbow magic then fire it all.

Kurt Zisa recovers from its collapse then enters defensive magic. It floats in a meditation pose while using its two blades to channel hold a powerful shield. The heartless floats away from us, we cast after it. Aladdin can't do any harm to the field, for only my magic can penetrate it. I first cast Water Spout, then Sparkza after that, channeling four rings of light in same diameters, but in different angles, all around me.

Kurt Zisa casts Tornados. I become surrounded by tornado sands, sanados if you well. The barrier still stands. I cast Aeroza then Razor Pales, shooting razor sharp flower petals at the Heartless. Kurt Zisa casts Gravity Balls, the dark orbs pop out of the ground and come at Aladdin and I. I block most of them with Holy Shield, Aladdin stands behind me to be protected from the dark orbs.

When they're all gone, I continue casting my fairy magic on the Kurt Zisa, until it's barrier shatters and it collapses once again. Aladdin and I continue attacking it. All of my previous magic attack causes me to reach my full power, unleashing Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust.

Kurt Zisa is defeated.

The giant heartless jumps back on its foot, and it staggers and stumbles. Aladdin and I step back. The Heartless starts to collapse forward, that's when we turn and make a run for it. It's entire body collapses and we nearly got hit by it. The Heartless glows and a massive heart is release from it.

Aladdin and I look at the spot where the Kurt Zisa was at. "Close call." I say.

"I'll say." Aladdin puts away his sword. He crosses his arms, looking down sighing. "I can't believe Genie would turn on us like that."

"It's not his fault. He was only doing his job. If anyone's to blame, it's Jafar. Which is why we have to stop him." I say.

"Yeah. You're right." Carpet returns to us, it floats right in front of us. "Now let's head back to Agrabah!"

Aladdin and I ride on Carpet back to Agrabah.

While we're riding on a magic carpet, Jafar is back at the Palace in Agrabah with Jasmine held captive and Genie by his side unpleased with being Jafars slave. Jafar was just negotiating with the Sultan. He wants to trade his daughter Jasmine for the Sultan to step down as Sultan.

"Jafar! You traitor! You were my most trusted adviser for years!" Sultan says.

"You are sadly mistaken, 'sire'. Drop down!" Jafar says.

"Father! Don't do it!" Jasmine says.

"Quiet you!" Jafar does a spell that zips Jasmines lips, literally.

"Hold it, Jafar!" Jafar turns. He's surprised to see Aladdin and I arriving.

"What? You are still alive!" Jafar growls in anger. "I thought it was cats who have nine lives."

I point my Keyblade at Jafar. "Stand down, Jafar. You have no choice!"

"Oh, you are once again wrong, Keybearer. For you see, I have the power to both destroy you and become Sultan." Jafar holds out the lamp. "Genie. My final wish: I wish to be an all-powerful genie!"

Genie, unpleasantly, grants Jafars wish. Jafar starts transforming into a massive powerful genie. During transformation, Jafar blows off the palace roof. The skies turn bloody red and thunder rages.

Jafar floats in the middle of the room as a genie. "We got to stop him!" I say.

"But how? He's all powerful." Aladdin says.

"Al! The lamp!" Genie suggests.

Aladdin and I look around, to see Iago flying around carrying Jafar's lamp. "Get the lamp!" I say.

"Not so fast, streetrats!" Jafar summons a massive molten boulder and hurls it at us. I cast a Ruinza, similar to Ruinra only with exploding Ruins, at the boulder and it massively explodes.

"I'll handle Jafar. Get the lamp!" I say.

Aladdin nods and chases after Iago. Jafar is too high to be hit by my attacks. I use my magic attacks and Strike Raid abilities to distract him from Aladdin. Jafars dark magic becomes hard to avoid or to block, I can only avoid and block so much.

Aladdin chases after Iago. "Keep away from me, rodent!" Iago says.

"Hand over the lamp!" Aladdin says.

I block the next massive molten boulder with Holy Shield, only to have the barrier break. I only suffered minor damage. I restore myself with Curaga then continue casting, avoiding and blocking. "You can't defeat me! I am all-powerful!" Jafar says.

"Who says I'm trying to defeat you?" I ask.

"What?" Jafar seems worried and confused.

"Hey Jafar!" Jafar turns to see Aladdin aiming the lamp at him. "Time for you to go back into your lamp!"

The lamp begins sucking Jafar in. "No! NO!"

Jafar gets sucked right in. Iago gets caught in Jafars grip and they are both completely consumed into the lamp. As soon as Jafar is contained, all of his changes were undo. The palace is restored and the sky turn back to a cloudy blue. Jasmine is also free from the bondage Jafar contained her in.

"Aladdin, and sir Patrick. We can't thank you enough for saving Agrabah from Jafar." Sultan says.

"Indeed. If there's anything we can do to repay you." Jasmine says.

I was thinking about it, then Aladdin speaks. "That's right. Your wish." Aladdin seems upset like he said that by mistake. He holds out the lamp and looks at Genie. "But...Genie."

"It's okay, Al. Go ahead and give your friend a wish. I've waited ten thousand years for this chance, I can wait for another ten thousand." Genie says.

Aladdin doesn't speak. He thinks carefully about this. He looks at me for an answer. I just nod. "You sure?"

"I'm certain." I say.

Aladdin sighs. "All right." Aladdin looks at Genie. "Genie..." Genie positions himself to grant the wish. "I wish for your freedom!"

Genie wasn't expecting that. "Al!"

Magic swirls all around Genie. Aladdin, Jasmine and I stand by watching the show. Genie's tail turns into legs and his metal braces pops right off and vanishes. The magic lamp my lows on the ground dead. Genie grabs the lamp, holding it up in front of him looking at it completely speechless.

He cannot believe he is actually free. He screams with excitement as he starts bouncing off the walls. "I'M FREE! I'M FREE AT LAST!" He stops in place midair. "I'm hitting the road!" He takes out a suit case and starts stuffing everything in at high speed. "I'm off to see the world! I'm-" He suddenly spots when he looks back at Aladdin.

Aladdin and Genie are sure gonna miss each other. "That was a nice thing for you to do." Jasmine says.

"Yeah. Well, I guess after seeing what Jafar has done, I figured it was best for Genie to be free." I say. "Aqua would have done the same if it was me trapped in the darkness and she was searching for me."

Genie approaches to me and shakes my hand like crazy. "Oh thank you so much! Here!" Genie snaps his fingers and a Genie Charm appears in my hand. "Consider this as a token of my appreciation." genie grabs his suitcases. "Well. Can't do much damage around this popsicle stand! I'm..."

Just as Genie's about to blast off, a duplicate of himself, as some business man, or landlord maybe. "Hold it!"

Genie stops his blast off. "Oh, it's you! What do you want, mr. Lamplord?"

"Don't take that tone with me just because you moved out, you still owe me room rent!" Genie #2 says.

"You want rent? All right." Genie takes out some money out of his pocket and hands it to Genie #2. "Here's the twenty-eight dollars."

"Twenty-eight dollars, fine..." Genie #2 looks at Genie realizing something. "Just a minute, you owe me thirteen weeks at seven dollars a week and that happens to be a lot more then twenty-eight!"

"No, that comes out to twenty-eight dollars." Genie says.

"Did you go to school?" Genie nods. "Do you mean to say you can prove that seven times thirteen equals twenty-eight?"

"Well, it's gotta be. " Genie says.

"If you could prove it, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you the room rent for nothing. BUT! ...If you don't prove it, you owe me double the rent. Is that a deal?"

"It's a deal." Genie snaps his fingers and a marker board appears beside him.

Aladdin, Jasmine and I are just standing on the side watching this. "We're the only normal ones, are we?" I ask.

Jasmine and Aladdin agrees.

"Seven to twenty-eight is going to come out thirteen. That's my way and it's gonna come out right. Now first:" Genie writes a seven on the board. "I put down a seven. Now, I'm gonna divide the seven to the twenty-eight." He next rights a division line, then a twenty-eight then another division line after the twenty-eight. "Ain't that cute? Now. Here we go: Seven into two?" Genie looks at Genie #2, only to receive a head shake. "Seven will not go into two."

"It will not." Genie #2 says.

"That's a very big seven to push into that little bit of two." Genie #2 nods in agreement.

"You say it is." Genie #2 says.

"We ain't gonna hurt that little two, aren't we?" Genie says.

"Of course not." Genie #2 says.

"No we are not. Now, seven to eight?" Genie asks. Genie #2 answers 'one' and Genie writes that one next to the division line. "Is one. Now we're gonna carry the seven, cause it's very big and it's getting heavy on my shoulders and we're gonna drop the seven..." genie writes a seven under the eight. "Under there. Now, seven to eight..." Genie writes a line under the seven and eight and writes a one underneath. "Is one. We drop the two there." He writes a two next to the one, turning it into twenty-one Now, seven to the twenty-one."

"Three times." Genie #2 says.

"That's right." Genie writes a three next to the one in the answer. "Seven into twenty-eight is thirteen."

Genie #2 is disappointed. He's been outsmarted. "Wait a, wait a minute! You have to prove this even better then that! You can prove this very easily with multiplication!"

Genie looks confused. "You mean you want me to modify it?"

"No. No. No! Not modify. Mul-ta-ply!" Genie #2 spits on the T pronounce, right into the Genie's eye. "Mul-ta-ply!"

"All right! All right...All right I'll multiply it." Genie says.

"Seven times thirteen is twenty-eight. Prove it!" Genie #2 demands.

Genie starts writing on the board. "Now first we put down the thirteen." Genie writes thirteen then a seven and a line underneath. "Times seven. Seven weeks times thirteen, right?" Genie #2 agrees. "Right. Here we go. Seven times three!"

"Twenty-one." Genie #2 answers.

Genie writes twenty-one under the line. "Seven times one."

"Seven." Genie writes seven under the twenty-one then a line.

"Seven into one." Genie writes eight then drops the two, adding up to twenty-eight again. "Twenty-eight!"

Genie #2 is irritated. He's been conned yet again. "Now wait a minute, wait a minute! I'm still not convinced! there is one sure way to prove this! One sure way and that is addition!"

Genie looks a little uncomfortable. "You mean you want me to addition it up?"

"I want you to put thirteen on the board seven times, draw a line and then add it all up!" Genie #2 says.

"So you want me to put down thirteen seven times?" Genie asks.

"That's right." Genie #2 says.

Genie turns his back on Genie #2. "This can't come out right." He whispers nervously. Now he starts writing the thirteens on the board. "There's one. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. And seven."

"Wait a minute. What's the idea of spreading them out like that?" Genie #2 asks.

"Well, it looks like a flock of seagulls about to hit the electric wall." Genie #2 chuckles and nods in agreement. "Now we're gonna add them up, right? Here we go!" Genie begins counting until Genie #2 stops him. "Three, six and nine."

"Let me do the adding this time, then there will be no mistake." Genie #2 moves Genie side then begins counting. "Three. Six. Nine. Twelve. Fifteen. Eighteen. Twenty-one."

Genie shoves Genie #2 aside then continues the counting. "Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight." Then writes twenty-eight under the line. Genie #2 is speechless. He lost this battle.

Genie takes back his money. "Well, nice doing business with yea. Bye-bye." Genie #2 disappears. The rest of us are pretty speechless. We have no idea what just happened. "Now I'm...out of here!" Genie blasts off. "Bye-bye! Audios! Sayonara! Ciao! Bon Voyage! I'm history! No wait! I'm mythology! Oh I don't even care what I am! I'M FREE!"

Soon enough, Genie is out of sight. "Okay...I'm just gonna pretend that never happened." I say.

That is defiantly the second craziest thing I have witnessed. Guess nothing here is going to beat #1, which is...


	31. The Lost City

**A/N: Genie's hilarious, isn't he? That little skit he did in the ending, it's something I saw from a scene of an old comedy film. "7 into 28" it was called. After seeing it, I thought Genie would be the perfect role. I wonder if Robin William would agree.**

World: Atlantis

* * *

In this world there is nothing but darkness. Have I entered the Realm of Darkness? No, it can't be. This world is dark, but it lacks the sense and smell of darkness. I cast a small orb of light to brighten the room. I appear to be in some cave, all kinds of paths and terrain.

"Where the heck am I?" I ask.

As I wonder where I am, a soft rumbling happens. The very area I'm in shakes. I was startled a little. It felt like an earthquake. This could only mean one thing: I'm underground. "I've gotta get to the surface."

I move forward. after a couple of steps, Nobodies appear. Samurais and three others that are of the same type, but with different weapons. Grandmasters with a bo staff, Dualists with sais, Ninjas with nunchucks.

"Nobodies?" I summon my Keyblade. "Well things just got interesting."

I gather them all with Megnega then throw a couple of hits while they're all gathered. Most of the Nobodies were destroyed, but more starts to appear, Dusks and Time Bombs. A Grandmaster attacks me, then a Samurai and a Dusk joins in on the horde attack.

Once I recover, I cast Chaotic Fusion. Channeling a massive dark orb coated with light. The orb unleashes unstable pulses of light, damaging the Nobodies, then when the light vanishes, the orb explodes in darkness.

All of the Nobodies were defeated by the darkness.

"What are Nobodies doing here?" I wonder. I can't really figure out how or why. Just then, another rumble happens. Dust and pebbles fall from the cavern ceiling. "Guess I won't find out staying here."

I move on ahead, making my way through the Caverns of Valor.

Any Nobodies that appears before me, I cut them down. The Dancers were the most annoying Nobodies I have encountered. If I could, I would make them extinct. I make it to the end of the area and enter Volcanic Depths. The area is just a circular rock ground with two bridges. Down below is molten lava. I'm just hoping I'm not too close to the worlds core.

Reaching the center, more Nobodies appear before me. Just some Assassins and Monks, fist fighters. They're similar to Dancers but they're a male model. I'm familiar with how the Assassin's work, they wave within the ground become immune to attacks until they're surfaced. I cast Magnega, which cause the Assassin's just before they had a chance to dive, then I give the Nobodies a taste of Thunderza.

The Nobodies are defeated and I continue onward. I do enter Spell Weaver however. I arrive in Crystal Caverns. It's a wide area with a ton of crystals. It's quite amazing really. As I walk, I look at the scenery...strangely, this feels very familiar. I stop and approach one of the crystal pillars. I reach out and grab a loose crystal. I hold it right in front of me, looking at it.

Just then, a flash happens, and my migraine goes off. I forcibly drop the crystal and collapse on my hands, hands on my head. I try to fight off the pain, set my mind somewhere else. As I do that, the pain diminishes overtime, until it's gone.

I take a deep breath, looking down at the crystal that fell. "What was..."

Just then, I hear someone screaming. I turn to the direction and rush towards it with no hesitation. I reach to the end of the cliff, seeing six people being surrounded by Dusks, Dancers and Grandmasters. I dive right in, land right in the middle. I cast Zero Graviza, sending the Nobodies in the air.

"I'll handle them." I say.

I start attacking in my Spell Weaver style. Two Nobodies die and the rest are released from the Gravity effect. I next cast Chaotic Fusion and the Nobodies are defeated. More appears. The Dusks weave around while I attack the Samurais.

The Dusks hit me. I cast Magnega then I unleash Spell Weaver, defeating all of the Nobodies.

When that's done, the people approaches me. "You were amazing out there!" The leader says.

Some nerd with a book approaches me. "Are you happen to be an Atlantan?"

I look confused. "Atlantan? I happen to be a wondering traveler. The name's Patrick kind sir." I say.

"I'm Milo James Thatch. Atlantan treslater." A translater. That explains the nerd style.

The rest of the group introduces themselves to me. The leader is Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke. His second in command is Helga Katrina Sinclair. Aubrey Rocio Ramirez engineer girl. Vincenzo Santorini demolition. Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet the doctor. His has the strangest introduction. He's going on talking medical stuff while he's examining me. The confusing part is when he hands me a glass jar.

"I'm gonna need you to fill this." Dr Joshua says.

"With what?" I say looking at the jar confused. Milo whispers what he means into my ear. For a reaction, I look surprised. "What! I ain't doing that!" Then toss the jar so it shatters on the wall. I wipe my hands on my clothes. "Disgusting. If we can get these...introductions out of the way, what are you all doing here?"

"We are explorers from the surface world. We search for the long lost city of Atlantis." Commander Lyle says.

I look at him surprised to hear that. "Atlantis? That paradise from the legends?" Everyone mutters 'Yeah' 'yea' 'of course'. "Interesting."

"Yeah. We were doing just fine until those...things appeared out of no where and attacked us." Helga faces Milo. "Are they the guardians of Atlantis, Mr. Thatch?"

Milo scans through his book. "I don't know. The book doesn't say anything about creatures of white."

"I'm familiar with these creatures." Everyone looks at me. "I can tag along on this little...expedition of yours."

""You sure you want to come? We don't want to interfere with...whatever it is you're doing." Aubrey tells me.

"Don't worry about it. This doesn't overlap my reason of being here. I'm looking for someone, and Atlantis might be a good place to look." I say.

The Explorers agrees to bring me along. We all continue on in the Crystal Caverns. I take on any Nobodies that appears. We made it to the end of the caverns, taking the entrance to the Atlantan View. The area is just a cliff with a bridge that leads to the large city up ahead.

We couldn't believe our eyes. Up ahead is the legendary lost city: Atlantis.

Everyone talks about how the city looks from this view. I just give an impressed whistle. Suddenly, we are ambushed. A group of warriors wearing large masks, that covers their bodies, attacks us. We are completely surrounded.

"Mr. Thatch?" Commander Lyle asks.

"Patrick?" Milo asks.

"They don't look like Nobodies. I have a feeling they live here." I say.

"But that's impossible. Atlantis has been lost for thousands of years. There can't be any life forms here." Helga says.

"Well, apparently there are." Commander lyle says.

We didn't bother to fight the Atlantans...especially after I tried, they shoot me with a tranquilizer dart. I've become completely paralyzed, and the others just surrendered. Atlantans escort us through the city, two of them carrying me while four guards the others. Everyone is have their hands tied from behind.

This is not good.

The Atlantans takes us into the Kings Chamber. It seems like a pond area with stone hedges and a cover roof. The Atlantans force everyone to kneel on the stone ground, while the two that carried me just drop me like a rag doll.

"Ow! Gently! I can still feel pain!" I say.

The leader of the group, she removes her mask, revealing to be a girl. I was surprised to see that. "Wait! Wait! I was fighting a girl!? I just got my butt whopped by a girl! Unfair!"

Kida points her spear at me, speaking to me in Atlantan. "(Quiet you!)" Kida turns her attention to the king. "(Father! I have brought these intruders! They were about to invade our city!)"

The king also speaks in Atlantan. "(Intruders from the surface world? Kida! You know the rule: Outsiders must not be allowed in this city!)"

Commander Lyle leans close to Milo, whispering. "What are they saying?"

"I'm trying." Milo listens closely as the king and Kida speaks. "They're calling us intruders...We're not allowed...They're gonna punish us...by death!" Everyone seems worried hearing that. "The king...he mentioned that they're already having problems...with the creatures of white."

I'm on alert hearing 'creatures of white'. "Nobodies." I whisper. "Hey! Atlantan king!"

"You dare to speak to me, outsider!" The king says.

I'll admit, it's surprising that he speaks english. "Just listen! Your majesty! I..." I try to stand and approach the king, but I realize I'm still paralyzed. I look at the two guards by the explorers. "Excuse me? Can I get a little help here?"

They hesitated, but the two guards stand by my sides and lift me. They take me to the king and hold me in place.

"Thank you. You're majesty. I have a special kind of power and magic. I can help you and your people fight these creatures of white." I say.

The king strokes his beard. "You wish to prove yourself to our empire?"

"Uh...sure. Just let me take care of the Nobodies." I say.

The king thinks carefully about it. Then Kida speaks. "He was the only one out of these outsiders that fought against us. He's brave, I'll give him that."

The king nods then looks at me. "Very well. If you want to be deemed worthy, proof yourself by banishing these creatures from our city."

"As you wish, your majesty." I say.

Kida approaches before me, taking out a vial. "This will cure the paralysis." She makes me drink the antidote. I start to regain feeling. The guards let me good. I'm back on my feet, I staggered a little, but I'm still standing.

"Kida. Go with him. Make sure he doesn't betray our trust." The king says.

"Well, I'm starting to feel like MY trust is betrayed." I say.

Kida and I leave Kings Chambers. The explorers are left behind as well, hopefully they won't end up dead while I'm busy doing some clean up.

The city is pretty large. I can only imagine where the Nobodies are hiding. I start at the Courtyard Plaza. There are three different groups of Nobodies. Kida and I start fighting them off. I use my Genie Charm. I become coated in purple light and my Keyblade is enchanted with arcane magic and I control it through telekinesis.

Nobodies came after us. I strike at them waving the Keyblade around them with my mind. Kida fights them personally with her spear. She's pretty athletic with that weapon. I cast Magnega, gathering the Nobodies, then cast Duskja, cast ten mists of darkness at once and they all head towards the target Nobody. When they hit, all at once, they gather as a massive dark smoke then explodes like Ruinga.

The remaining Nobodies break free from the Magnet spell. Kida strikes at the Sorceress. The Monks and Assassin focuses on me. I get caught in the Assassins rapid attack. Once I recover, I cast Ruin Storm. That finishes off the Nobodies here.

Kida and I move on into Market Row. It's full of merchants, and they are being attacked by the Nobodies. Kida and I start attacking the Nobodies. I start of with Blizzarja, casting a single ice shard. It lands behind the Samuri's feet, then multiple icicles pop out of the ground, about ten yards in diameter, then they shatter, hurting all Nobodies nearby.

The Dusks weave around me then attack. I heal myself with Curaga. "Heal!"

Kida strikes the Duelist until it's destroyed. I do Pyro Storm, creating a pillar of fire on a Nobody and it spins like a vortex. The flames spread apart burning the Nobodies. All of them are finished here.

Kida and I move on into the Bay Shack, where the Atlantans go fishing. Dusks, Grandmasters and Gamblers are attacking the citizens here. I cast Zero Gravija then start attacking the Nobodies, until I reach my full power and unleash Three Wishes. I hurl my Keyblade above, it floats on top of my by five feet and becomes consumed by an Arcane Orb. I shoot an arcane beam, only out of my index finger, directly at the orb, and the orb splits the beams into three, 120 degrees spread from each other, basically in the form of a triangle, then spreads at high speed, extending, leaving a swirl in it's wake.

Nobodies suffer great damage from that attack. In the end, they were defeated. Kida and I wait around, looking for anymore Nobodies.

"That all of them?" Kida asks.

A Dusk appears behind her. Kida turns to see it's attacking her. Before it strikes, I strike it, destroying the Nobody. "Yeah. That should be all of them." I tell her.

Kida looks at me. "You know...you're not as bad as I thought you were."

"You weren't too bad yourself." I hold my hand out. "The name's Patrick."

Kida shakes my hand. "I'm Kidagakash. Call me Kida."

"Gladly." I say, knowing her real name is hard to pronounce.

Kida and I return to the Kings Chambers. We reported our deeds to the king. I right now kneel before the Atlantis King. "You have done well, outsider. As a reward, you and your comrades will be spared." The Atlantans unties the explorers. "However, you all are still not welcome here. Return from where you came and never come back."

I approach the king, frustrated. "Listen here, old man! I did not just clear off those Nobodies just so you can-"

Milo pushes me aside. "Excuse us, your majesty." Milo pulls me away from the king to the rest of the group. "He's the king of Atlantis. It's best to do what he says, I mean...we almost lost our heads back there just for traveling."

More like trespassing in my opinion. Commander Lyle approaches the king, kneels in front of him. "Very well, your majesty, we will leave...However, with all due respect, at least allow us to stay for one night. Just one night, that way we may rest and pack up for the trap back."

I approach next to Commander Lyle. "I might agree with him, just in case those Nobodies return. We'll just stay for tonight then leave in the morning."

"Hmm...Very well. One night. That is all." The king says.

Commander Lyle respectfully bows. "Thank you, your highness. I can assure you, we won't be a burden."

The explorers takes a look around Atlantis, except for Milo. He stays with Kida and I. Kida shows us around in the city of Atlantis, the city looks more peaceful without any forces of darkness threatening and invading the city.

"This is amazing." I say, looking all around. "I have heard the tales of Atlantis in stories, but never imagined they are real."

"It is pretty amazing, isn't it. It's my grandfather's dream to discover Atlantis. I just wish he could be here." Milo says as he looks over his book. "Hey, Patrick. Didn't you say you're looking for someone here?"

Kida looks at me confused. "Looking for someone? Here?"

I may have mislead on my explanation. "Well...not exactly. You see, my friend isn't here. She's actually in another world. And trying to get there...is difficult. So you see, I'm just trying to find a way in and it could be ANYWHERE!"

Kida and Milo just looks confused, they probably don't understand what I'm talking about. "Well...Atlantis is full of legends and mysteries. You should have seen the giant guardian we encountered in the ocean." Milo says.

"I'll take your word for it." I turn to Kida. "Kida. Is there a place were we can learn some stuff, like a library?"

"Well...I don't know what a Library is, but I do know a place where Atlantan history is kept." Kida says.

I shrug my shoulders. "Well, it's better then nothing. Lead the way, princess."

While the three of us are busy, Commander Lyle is looking about around the lost city. He's is making a thorough search. He is in desperately searching for something. What it is he's after, who knows?

"It's gotta be here somewhere...Where is that king hiding it?" Commander Lyle says.

"You're searing for a special treasure, aren't you?" The voice startles him, then Zaela appears right behind him. Commander Lyle turns to see Zaela. "If you think you can find it by yourself. Ha, you're only fooling yourself."

"Who are you?" Commander Lyle asks.

"Nothing special. I'm only here to help you." Zaela says. Dusks appears, surrounding Commander Lyle. He's not even sure if she really is trying to help him. Looks more like she's about to attack him. "You seek a prize in this expedition. There is only one way to find it, and that is by force."

The Dusks do nothing, just standing their in their weaving movement. Commander Lyle starts to look confused. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. All you have to do is cast your heart to the darkness. Do this and my Nobodies will be under you command...Commander." Zaela says.

Commander Lyle looks side to side at the Nobodies that turns him, then he looks forwards at Zaela and smirks.


	32. The Crystal Heart

**A/N: Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Guess you guys weren't expecting that to be a world in Kingdom Hearts, wouldn't you say? It probably would make sense since there's already Atlantica, the world of the Little Mermaid. I hated that world, the way fighting works in the first. It's even worse in KH2 with that whole singing nonsense. I mean, what is this? School of Fish Musical?**

World: Atlantis

* * *

While we make out way to the Ancient Grove, we walk past all of Milo's friends. They seem to be interesting the city. All though Vincenzo was a hard one to tell, that dull expression and tone he makes. It's like he's completely motionless. I can sometimes relate to that.

We arrive at the Ancient Grove, which is a land with moss covered ruins. There are a ton of ancient tablets and writings on the crumbling ruins. Hopefully, this place will give me the answers I seek.

"What do they say?" I ask.

Milo approaches to the writtens. He observes them closely. "It's hard to make out...but it just stays Atlantan history about kings of the past. Live when the city was once surfaced. The guardians that protect the city...that's odd."

"What is it?" I ask, curious.

"I don't really think this has anything to do with Atlantis, but it's saying something about the Shadowmoon." Milos says.

That catches me by surprise. "Tell me, what does it say?"

"It seems strange, but it states that after a certain date...October 5th, 1998. The Shadowmoon invaded the city." October 1998...that was the date when I first met Aqua. "This man...Ras-put-in I think it's pronounced, he stoled the heart of Atlantis from the city. What he planed to do with it, no one knows. But a few days later, King Mickey arrived at the city, returning the Heart of Atlantis."

The Heart of Atlantis...why would the Shadowmoon steal something like that? "Kida? Do you know anything about this?" I ask.

"I don't really remember something like that happening." Kida says.

"Wait, there's more." Kida and I turn our attention back to Milo. "In the darkness, there lays powerful warriors known as LeiShens. Rasputin has them held captive and use them for a Heartless experimentation. But the experiment was proven to be too dangerous, too powerful. But it was locked away, far out of reach from anyone."

Held captive...is it possible that the LeiShen's are alive? Or did Rasputin leave them imprisoned to rot? What is this experiment mentioned here? It's all too confusing.

"But what did he want this 'Heart of Atlantis' for?" I ask.

"I don't know. What is the Heart of Atlantis?" Milo asks.

"Heart of Atlantis..." Milo and I look at Kida. "I've read that somewhere."

Milo stands up. "Where? I can perhaps translate it."

Kida mentions a hidden cave underwater filled with Atlantan history. She couldn't understand any of it, 'Heart of Atlantis' was all she read. Kida and Milo undress themselves, up until their just in their undergarments.

They're in the water just waist deep. "You coming, Patrick?" Milo asks.

"I'll pass, thank you very much." I say while I turn and walk away.

Kida and Milos submerges, swimming underwater towards the caverns. I stay within the Ancient Grove looking at the writings on the ruins. What sets me off is why. Why is Rasputin going so far to destroy the LeiShins? He is just as bad and reckless as the Heartless and those in the darkness that controls them. It's no wonder he's considered a traitor.

"You sure about this?" I'm alert hearing that. The voice is faint, but I can tell that's Commander Lyle. I follow the direction of the sound, which is further within the Grove.

"Trust me...The heart will be...and we...the LeiShen." That other voice I have trouble hearing. 'The LeiShen?' Hearing that catches me by surprise.

I walk right into a hidden area. There, I find Commander Lyle with Zaela. I hide behind a pillar, listening closely to the conversation.

"But where is the Heart of Atlantis?" Commander Lyle asks.

"My lord last found the heart within the kings chambers. I'm guessing it'll be in there." Zaela says.

"Soon! All of that power will be mine!" Commander Lyle says.

Hearing that ticks me off. Lyle is villainous. I probably should have seen this coming. I stealthily walk back, then turn to be greeted by Monks. I scream as the Monks toss me right into the hidden spot where Lyle and Zaela at in.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to be a snoop." Zaela says.

Monks, Samurais, Dusks and Dances appears all around me. "You work with the Shadowmoon?" I ask Lyle.

"I wouldn't say 'working' with them. More like making a deal with them." Lyle says.

I growl at Lyle hearing that. "You've meddled in our little plans far too much, sweetheart." Zaela walks up on me, cupping my cheeks in her hand. "It's time for you to learn your place. Just like that pathetic friend of yours who's playing puppet with Rasputin."

My blood boils hearing that. I know exactly who and what she's talking about. "Aqua is not a puppet!"

Zaela drops her hand. "You go on and believe that." Zaela punches me hard in the gut. "Now go to sleep!"

The Nobodies drop me. I try to fight the pain Zaela gave me, but my whole world turns dark as I fall unconscious. Lyle and Zaela just looks down at my dead body.

"What should we do with him?" Lyle asks.

"Leave him! We'll deal with him later. I believe we have ancient treasure to...extract." Zaela says.

Meanwhile, Milo and Kida are deep within the waters. Kida shows Milo to the ancient writings and stone pictures within the waters. Milo carefully reads through them, but acts fast for he can only be underwater for an amount of time. After seeing the pictures, he finally understands. He gestures Kida to swim up for some air to speak.

"The Heart of Atlantis! It's the very life-form for all Atlantan culture." Milos says.

"What does it look like?" Kida asks.

"It looks like a crystal!" Milos grabs the crystal Kida wears and shows it out of the water. "Kind of like this! ...Only this was never mentioned in the book unless...a missing page."

Milo and Kida swims back to the Ancient Grove. Milo bursts out of the water, greatly gasping for her. Who can blame him? It was a long trip after all. Milo hangs from the stone stairs at the edge of the lake, but looks up to see Lyle kneeling down to his level smirking, and Helga standing beside him.

"You had a nice swim?" Lyle asks.

Milo notices the Nobodies standing behind them. At first, he thought it could have been illusions due to having a near death experience, but then he realizes it's real.

"Uh, commander. Those white creatures are right behind you." Lyle makes no change of expression. That's when Milo realizes something. "They're...working for you? ...But why?" No answer, no change in expression. Then Milo realizes. "Oh! How could I have been so stupid. You're after the Crystal Heart!"

Lyle shows Milo a page from his book. "You mean this?"

Milo looks at the page. It's all about the Heart of Atlantis. It's certainly a page from his book. "So it's true. It's just another treasure hunt!"

"Well, look who's finally catching up." Lyle says.

Kida surfaces from the lake, then the Nobodies starts to attack her. Kida tries to fight back. In the end, Helga has her captured. Milo tries to help Kida out, but Samurais hold their swords out, blocking Milos way. Lyle forces Milo to turn and face him.

"All right, translator! Tell us where the Crystal is, or your lady friend here gets it." Lyle snaps his fingers. Helga pushes Kida to the ground, Snipers appear and they aim their guns at her, ready to shoot.

Milo has no other choice. He opens the book, searching through it then starts reading. "It says here the heart can only be found in the eyes of the king."

"Is that so? Well, it's time we have a little talk with the king." Lyle pushes Milo back, causing him to fall on the ground. "Now we no longer have any use for you." Lyle snaps his fingers. "Finish him off."

Dusks starts to weave towards Milo. Milo crawls back at the Nobodies are creeping up against him. Lyle and Helga takes Kida, heading to the Kings Chamber.

Meanwhile, my vision starts to return. I moan as I return conscious. I slowly get on my hands and feet. "What...happened?" I wonder what could have happened, then it hit me. "Lyle!"

I run right out of the hidden spot.

While I'm wondering the Ancient Grove, Lyle, Helga and the Nobodies barge right into the Kings Chambers. The rest of the explorers are in the chambers. They are surprised to see Lyle and Helga attacking the city. And what's more: That the Nobodies are working with him. The warriors arm themselves, but Helga shows them the captive Kida and threatening them that she'll shoot her.

"Tell them to drop their weapons! Now!" Helga says.

The king tells his warriors to drop their weapons in Atlantan. Just like that, they drop their weapons. Lyle approaches the king.

"All right, old man! Tell me where the Crystal is!" Lyle says.

"You have no idea of such power it contains. You cannot wield it." The king says.

"Oh, believe me. I am capable of wielding such power." Lyle shoves the king off the throne, onto the ground. Monks surrounds the king.

Dr. Joshua approaches to Lyle. "Commander, this was not part of the plan."

"Yeah, well plans changed, bud." Lyle says. Lyle returns his attention to the king. Lyle sits on the throne, taking out his gun. "Now, you're got the count to ten to tell me where the crystal is! One!" He cocks his gun. "Two! Nine!" He was about to say ten, but then he starts to have a realization. Lyle looks at the symbol on the book, then looks at the center of the pond. The rocks form the exact same pattern at the symbol on the book. "The Heart of Atlantis can only be found in the eyes of the king! This is it! We're in!" Lyle gets off of the throne heading towards the center of the pond.

However, he was shortly blocked by All the other explorers. "Oh come on! You can't be serious." Lyle says.

"This is wrong and you know it!" Aubrey says.

"I'm with her on this." Dr, Joshua says.

"If this was a demolition site, I would resign from it." Vincenzo says.

"Fine! So be it!" Lyle snaps his fingers and Nobodies appears by his commander. "Seize them!"

Nobodies chase Audrey, Dr. Joshua and Vincenzo out. Helga and Lyle stands on the center dot of the stone symbol, with Kida held hostage. The stone sinks in, and so does all of the other stones. The stones go into the hidden caverns underneath: The Cavern of Heart. Up ahead, at the end of the lake, is a large glowing orb surrounded by stone masks, the kings of the past.

"Jackpot!" Lyle says.

I wonder through the Ancient Grove until I arrive at the lake area where Milos and Kida. There I found Milos cornered by the Nobodies.

"Hang on!" I rush right in summoning my Keyblade. I yell as I charge, killing the Nobodies in one single blow. Milo relaxes once he sees the Nobodies defeated. "You okay?"

I help Milo stand up. "Yeah. Lyle has gone crazy! He's after the Heart of Atlantis."

"We've got to stop him." Milo and I run back to the city.

As soon as we arrived, the city is overwhelming with Nobodies. Not only the Nobodies are attacking the Atlantan citizens, but also the explorers. I rush right in and start attacking the Nobodies harming Vincenzo. The Ninjas and Snipers. I first gather them with Magnega and then unleash Thunderza. That finished off the Snipers, but more Nobodies appear.

I enter Spell Weaver, the Ninjas attacks me with their nunchucks. The Magicians are also using their magic to create illusion copies of myself. Fighting my Illusion selves wasn't easy, then I give them a taste of Shadow Dash then Chaotic Fusion. I enter Black Maelstrom, which didn't matter cause the Nobodies were defeated.

"I appreciate the help, man. But if I have like a hundred sticks, twelve grenades, a time bomb. I could have taken them." Vincenzo says.

"Your welcome. Now lets help out the others." I say.

We move on to the next group of Nobodies that are taking Aubrey. She seems to be fighting back at them by punching them. Only she's not fighting too well, compared to Tifa at least. I join in on the fight and attack them with my dark attacks. The Duelists and Dancers could hardly touch me with my fast moves and attacks. They die quickly, but only to have more take their place.

I gather all the nearby nobodies with Magnega then unleash Black Maelstrom. They were all defeated halfway through the dark vortex.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks a bunch." Audrey says. She sounds uninterested or unpleased. She looks at me, she makes a fighting stand. I flinch back, but not in worry, but in defense. She's not attacking. "Two for flinching!" But she does give me to punches on the shoulders.

I'm surprised by how strong she is. "Man! Girl is packing a few guns." I say, rubbing my shoulder.

When we're done with her, we move on to the next group of Nobodies. They are attacking Dr. Joshua. I attack the Nobodies. Dusks, Samurais and Magicians. I strike at them, casting Quakza then doing Ars Arcanum. I enter Critical Impact. The Dusks attacks me, but I block with Holy Shield then unleash Counter Aura.

The Magicians attacks me with their magic spells of fire, ice and thunder. I heal myself with Curaga then continue attacking. I unleash Ruin Storm. That defeats the Nobodies, but more appears. I cast Zero Graviza, sending the Nobodies in the air, then attack them until I reach full power and unleash Critical Impact. I continue attacking the Nobodies, up until the Zero Gravity wears off and then I finish them off with Pyro Storm.

"Thank you kind sir. You're not hurt are you? Showing any signs of bleeding, drowsiness, memory loss-" I interrupt Dr. Joshua as he goes on with examining me.

"Would you stop with the medical stuff, please?" I ask.

Dr. Joshua leaves to join the others. "We have to help Kida. She's probably with Lyle in the Kings Chamber." I nod and Milo and I head towards the Kings Chambers.

The moment we arrived, we stop right by the doors. For we are greeted by a giant Nobody. A fifteen-foot tell creature that's beastly with sheep teeth, claws and wild hair. Hollow Vessel.

"Jesus Christ! What is that thing?" Milo asks.

"A Nobody." Hollow Vessel unleashes a loud monstrous roar. It causes the very ground to shake. "Milo! Help Kida! I'll handle this beast!"

Milo runs right in and dive right into the hole that goes to the Cavern of Heart. I stay up here, summoning my Keyblade, and battle Hollow Vessel.


	33. Defend the Heart

**A/N: Atlantis sure is in deep trouble cause of Lyle and the Shadowmoon. It's a shame, really. It's surprising how the Shadowmoon would go so far to destroy the last LeiShen, they would steal and meddle in other worlds. That's just bad isn't it?**

World: Atlantis

* * *

My battle against Hollow Vessel is pretty hard core. The beast is wild and feral. I have to use my Ventus Charm to keep up with it, since Ven is all about speed. I make the first strike with Sonic Blade, repeatly rushing at the Nobody creature with sonic charges. Hollow Vessel staggers well from Sonic Blade. At the final blast, Hollow Vessel viciously attacks me.

I suffer the damage, but once I recover I heal myself with Curaga. Hollow Vessel runs around the area. I chase after it, until I reach it and attack with Lightning Nova. My Keyblade charges with electric, then I give it swift swings on the Hollow Vessel. I deliver the final blow, charging through the Nobody. Seconds after the strike, all my attacks on it Nobody does an after strike then, at once, all explode in an electrifying inferno.

Hollow Vessel roars loudly, I cast Thundaja, five lightning rains down on Hollow Vessel, the ground each of the lightning hits leaves lightning orbs. They grow until they're double the size and they explode. Hollow Vessel enrages, it's eyes burn fiery red and it's body is coated in shadow. Hollow Vessel attacks in such a berserker rage. And I thought Saix was bad enough when he went berserk.

Meanwhile, Milo is just arriving in the Cavern of Heart. The Heart of Atlantis is glowing red and sending red spotlights all around. "Lyle!"

Lyle, Helga and Kida turns to see Milo. "You!?" Lyle is surprise. "Helga! Take care of him!"

Milo was about to take Kida and run only Helga tackles him. She has his neck locked in her arm and a gun aiming at his head ready to shoot. Lyle returns his attention to the scene up ahead. One of the beams lands on Kida. The crystal around Kida's neck glows and floats in front of her. Kida's eyes turn light blue, as well as the light from the Heart of Atlantis.

Kida becomes hypnotized, for the crystal comes to life in her mind, taking over her. Kida mindlessly starts up at the Heart of Atlantis, she starts walking on water heading towards it. Lyle, Helga and Milo are looking at Kida, confused. They barely understand what's going on here.

Kida stands right underneath to Heart of Atlantis. All of the spotlights move onto Kida, and the light shrinks until it closes on the crystal and widens on her. Kida floats up, slowly soaring into the heart. Once she's inside, the faces of the kings starts spinning, greatly accelerating. Milo, Lyle and Helga are speechless at the very sight of this.

After a while, the faces starts slowing down. As it slows, it starts to reveal that both Kida and the giant energy is both gone. All that reminds is a crystalized Kida. The crystalized Kida slow falls to the ground, until her feet are on the surface of water.

Milo is not too happy to see this. Cause he knows that the Kida he met is gone. "Kida..."

I am on the ground, with Hollow Vessel over me. The beast has me pinned down. I try to hold its face back, defending myself with my Keyblade. Hollow Vessel snarls at me. I can smell it's rotten breath and I gag. "By the light! Ever heard of toothpaste?"

The beast chops its fangs on me. I fight back by kicking it hard in the stomach. Hollow Vessel reacts to it by dropping it's assault. To my advantage, I blow Aeroza at it, blowing Hollow Vessel off of me.

I quickly get back on my feet, then unleash Cyclone. My swift air spins strikes hard on the Hollow Vessel. When that was done, the beast roars in agony and collapses. Its body starts to unravel until nothing of it remains.

After the monsters defeat, Lyle, Helga returns with the captive Milo and the crystalized Kida. When I first start Kida, I didn't recognize her. I am in fact surprised to see her completely turn to crystal. Lyle was kind enough to let Milo go, then he takes off with his prize.

The crystalized Kida.

Kida is now loaded up in a metal cabinet, which is loaded up in the van. I just stand back, watching those whole event with a bitter look. Lyle and Helga are getting away with Kida and the Heart of Atlantis.

"All right. I'm gonna give you all one last chance." Lyle says. Audrey, Dr. Joshua and Vincenzo still denies Lyle's offer. "Fine then! More for me!"

Lyle and Helga get into the van and drive off. They cross past the bridge, heading right into the caverns. I groan in frustration and turn walking away. "I can't believe this!"

"I know! That crystal was the Atlantan's life force and now they're entire culture is in danger!" Milo says. "We've got to do something."

"Like what?" Audrey asks.

"Audrey is right. Lyle has weapons and his army of those creatures on his side. He's won. There's nothing we can do about it." Dr. Joshua says.

"We can't give up." We all turn to see the king struggling to walk out of his chambers, even using his staff for support. "Your friends must be stopped. They have no idea of the dangerous power they carry."

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"The Heart of Atlantis carries such unstoppable power. If anyone where to use it as a weapon, it will cause absolute destruction. I tried to use it once, back on the surface, to defend my people. But because of my arrogance, it was proven to be too powerful, and it drive the entire city into the forsaken ruin you now see."

We're all speechless hearing this. "So that's why you hide it, didn't you? To prevent history from repeating itself." Milos says.

"But he wasn't lucky. Cause the heart was stolen once. By Rasputin." I say. "Your highness. What did the Shadowmoon use the heart for?"

"That. I do not know. But if he used it on any of his enemies. I'd say his chances were that he destroyed their entire culture." The king says. I have a gut feeling he did. He used the heart of the LeiShen's. "Please! Save Atlantis. Save my daughter. If she is bound to the crystal far too long, she will be lost forever."

I get it. She'll be either completely mindless, or permanently bound to the crystal. "Don't worry, your majesty. I will save your daughter and bring back the Heart of Atlantis." Milo swears by standing straight and saluting.

"And just how are you gonna do that?" Andrey asks.

Milo was silent for a few, then speaks. "I have no idea."

Figures. The hero doesn't have a plan. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go after Lyle." I start walking away.

I hop on my Hoverbike, start it up. I slowly drive it to the center of the city, aiming it direction at the bridge, then Milo stands in front of me as if to stop me from leaving.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!" Milo says.

"I admire your tenacity, kid. But you're going to be eaten alive out there." I say.

"This is all my fault that heart is stolen. I'm the one who brought Lyle here, and I'm gonna fix it." Milo says.

"Fine. Hop on." I'm not too pleased with him coming along, mostly cause I can't guarantee his safety.

Without any further hesitation, we take off right into the caverns. It was a fast ride and Milo spent most of the time screaming, for he is both terrified and exhilarated.

In the Volcanic Depths, Helga launches a missile to the top of the cavern. It goes high up until it hits the roof, creating an opening. Lyle stands in the spotlight, looking up. "I love it when I win."

Helga and Lyle releases a large air balloon, hook it to the cabinet carrying the crystalized Kida. The balloon starts floating to the top, soon beginning to carry the cabinet with it. That's when Lyle sees Milo and I coming within sight.

"We've got company!" Lyle summons Air Pilots, Nobodies that are riding on planes. "Destroy them!"

Air Pilots fly all around, shooting at Milo and I. I start taking evasive action, avoiding the lasers while firing back at them. I take out the Air Pilots while trying to fly close to the air balloon. When we fly close, I shoot at one of the small balloons at the side. It explodes and starts causing the whole thing to fall slowly.

Lyle and Helga notices the situation. "We need to lighten the load!" Lyle says.

They start dropping heavy stuff as I start taking on the Air Pilots. "We need to stop them!" Milo says.

"All right! Good luck kid!" I say.

Milo seems confused. "Wait. What?" When above the air balloon, I turn the Hoverbike upside down, dropping Milo, then I fly off to take care of the rest of the Nobodies. Helga and Lyle dumps everything they could drop, but the balloon is still falling.

"That's everything! Unless one of us is willing to take a dive." Helga says.

Lyle grins, for he's about to give her a taste of her own words. "Ladies first." He grabs Helga and dumps her. Helga screams as she falls. "Nothing personal!" He shouts down at her.

The air balloon starts floating back up. Milo makes his way to Lyle, trying to be stealthy but failing to do it. Lyle notices Milo and he starts attacking him. Milo is not really doing a good job at fighting back. Infact, he's just avoiding and trying to get away.

Helga is at the bottom of the cavern. Her body is sore from the fall. She takes out a flare gun, aiming it at the balloon. "Nothing. Personal!" She fires at the air balloon, and it explodes.

The container starts falling. Milo is now hanging from the door of the cabinet. Lyle takes out the emergency axe and starts using it on Milo. "Getting tired, Mr. Thatch?" He slams the axe into the glass window of the cabinet. "That's too bad." He lifts the Axe. Milo grabs a piece of glass, which is coated in the magic crystal. Lyle grabs Milo by the neck. "I'm just getting warmed up!" Then lifts him up.

Milo cuts Lyle on the arm, which cause shim to release Milo and grunt in pain. Milo falls from the release. I see his predicament and ride down to catch him.

Lyle wasn't happy to see Milo survive the fall, but he really isn't happy to see is that he's beginning to turn to crystal from that cut Milo gave him. This keeps happening until he's completely covered in crystal, becoming as still as a statue.

The large fireball that use to be the air balloon crashes right into the center of the ground, and the metal cabinet crashes as well. I land the Hoverbike right next to the cabinet. However, the cavern starts shaking, that's when the ground starts cracking and lava starts bursting out.

"Oh dear, this can't be good." Milo says.

"Come on!" I rush to what remains of the air ballon and grab the chains. I hook the metal cabinet to my Hoverbike. I get back on and so does Milo. "Hang on!" The Hoverbike turns on and takes off.

We ride at high speed, trying to distance ourselves from the lava that's surfing behind us. We made it out of the caverns and the lava starts pouring out of the tunnels.

We ride back to the city, directly at the center, placing the cabinet down. After I land the hoverbike, Milo and I get off. Milo tries to free Kida while I look back at the caverns. It's starting the burst and crack. This is a bad sign. The volcano is going to explode.

"We need to get her out!" Milo says.

I turn to the cabinet and summon my Keyblade. "I've got this." Milo stands back as I aim my Keyblade at the door. The tip glows in light then shoots a beam at the cabinet. Like a keyhole, the whole thing glows and shatters open. The crystalized Kida floats in place. She channels powerful magic.

Down below in the Cavern of Heart, the kings faces awakens in magic and starts floating up. The faces pierces through the ground, surfacing all around the crystalized Kida. The faces and Kida floats high above the city. The faces spins, greatly accelerating until all we can see is the glowing orb of the Heart of Atlantis and a ring of light.

The Heart of Atlantis starts shooting beams of light all around. The beam hits something, then massive guardians starts rising out of the waters of the city.

"I don't believe it...they must be the guardians of Atlantis." Milo says.

"By the light..." I'm surprisingly impressed by the size of these giants. We're practically ants to them.

Overtime, the all of the guardians are risen, and they surround the city by the very edge. The very moment the volcano explodes, the guardians starts creating an energetic barrier, greatly extending and spread throughout until it turns into a giant dome protecting the city.

"This is amazing." I say. The lava starts splashing onto the giant bubble. At first, we start to worry, even since the lava begins covering the city, but the barrier is managing to hold. "It's like a giant shield."

"I know." Milo says.

Just then, a crystal shard was shot at Milo, luckily by the arm. We were all surprised by that. We turn to see it's the crystalized Lyle, standing in position that shows he's the one that made the shoot. His left wrist is chained, which made me believe he was hooked up to my Hoverbike when we escaped.

He looks at us angrily. "Look! At what! You did! TO ME!" He voice is echoing distorted.

I step up, summon my Keyblade and positioned myself to fight. "You brought this on yourself!"

I charge in on Lyle, attacking them. Lyle seems pretty sensitive with being hit cause I've never seen an enemy that staggers so easily. I'm guessing this is from the crystallization curse. I give Lyle a taste of Ruinja, channeling magic causing ten ruins to come at him, piling up on him. When they're all gathered, it grows until it explodes, leaving a massive smoke and then releases the ten ruins, launched in different directions in the form of a circle. Those ruins only travel ten yards then explodes, without leaving any smoke.

The spell causes me to enter Spell Weaver.

Lyle comes at me, throwing me a couple of punches. "You! Will! Pay!" His fist gathers strength then punches the ground, causing a bush of crystals to raise up from beneath me. That attack pretty much knocked me into the air. His hits really hurts. For a guy who can barely take a hit, he sure packs a punch. Lyle crafts a crystal long sword. By the time he's done, I start attacking him. I give him a taste of Explosion, he really didn't enjoy that attack, then my power runs deeper and I enter Heavens Light.

Lyle swings his crystal sword at me couple times. When I recover, I heal myself with Curaga then continue attacking. I hit Lyle a couple of times, even throw a Shadow Dash. "Too slow!"

Lyle recovers from the stagger then does Crystal Barrage. "The power! Of crystal! IS MINE!" He starts rapidly shooting crystal shards in front of him. I avoid by rushing to the side and getting behind, but that doesn't stop him for he starts spinning directions. After a while of this, he stops, then I continue attacking until I reach my full power and unleash Heavens Light.

I'll be honest, he's not much of a challenge if he's THAT easy to stagger.

Upon his defeat, Lyle stumbles back. He shouts in agony and his body starts to crack. Rays of red light are released from the cracks, up until Lyle explodes.

The explorers are amazed at the explosion. "Whoa..." They all say.

Rumbling sound happens all around us. We look up to see the lava starts to harden. We are trapped inside, but only shortly when the barrier causes the harden lava starts to crack and fall apart. When everything was clear, the barrier vanishes.

I whistle. "Very impressive." A small ray of light shines from the clouds. We all look up, and Kida, the normal human girl, is slow falling down. Looks like she's returned to normal. Milo stands in the spotlight as Kida slowly falls into his arms.

Everything goes well in the hand. The city restores to its former glory. Now, Audrey, Dr. Joshua and Vincenzo are getting ready to leave. Kida and the Atlantis give them a ship, that'll help them return to the surface, filled with tons of gold. Kida now gives them each a crystal necklace.

"Atlantans will always remember your names for future generations. I wish there was more we can do." Kida says.

"That's real nice of you but..." Vincenzo looks back at all of the gold. "I think we're covered."

Kida approaches to me. "Here. This is for you as well."

Kida hands me a Kida charm. "Much oblige." I turn. "Well, I should get going." I start walking but soon stop when Kida speaks.

"You're not staying?" She asks.

I turn to look at her. "I have to find my friend. She's still out there...somewhere."

"I understand. You are welcome to visit anytime." Kida says.

"Noted. Good luck to you and the rest of your culture." Then I make my leave. I will find Aqua and save her, then I'll make the Shadowmoon pay for everything they have done.


	34. Destiny's Faith

**A/N: Another three worlds have pasted, now it's time to continue on with the story. I bet you guys can imagine what'll happen in this. If it's where I now rescue Aqua...you are mostly wrong. The next chapter of the story is going to be shocking.**

World: Destiny Islands

* * *

Three days have pasted.

I'm not having any luck with finding a way into the Realm of Darkness to rescue Aqua. With every minute I waste in the between worlds, a piece of Aqua's life is taken away by the Shadowmoon.

After my journey in Atlantis, I did visit Radiant Garden to check on Terra.

[Flashback]

_Terra is still asleep on the bed. Ventus is sitting on a chair beside the bed, watching over Terra. I start to worry for the kid. It's been days since I freed Terra from Xehanort's possession. I have a gut feeling the kid has no left Terras side since._

_Terra starts moaning in his sleep, which puts Ven on alert. He eyes start to open. Ventus is excited to see his friend waking up. "Terra! You're finally awake!"_

_Terra puts a hand on his head, moaning quietly. "Oh...my head." Terra slowly sits up. He takes a moment to adjust, his vision and his head. Once it's clear, he looks at Ventus. "Ven..." Ventus nods. "Hey...what happened?"_

_"You were being possessed by Xehanort." I say._

_Terra looks at me, surprised to hear that. "What? ...Oh, right. I remember."_

_"You feeling okay?" Ventus asks._

_"I think so...just a bit of a headache." Terra says. "How did I break free from his control."_

_"Your will and mind called us to you and Xehanort. I fought Xehanort to free you from his control." I say._

_"Well...I guess that explains the soreness I'm feeling." Terra looks up at me. "Thanks for the rescue. Who are you anyways."_

_"You know who I am." I say._

_Terra is confused to hear that. "What?" Terra looks at me. At first, he didn't get it. But then he notices the wayfinder around my neck. Now he's completely shocked. "I...I don't believe it. Patrick? Is that you?"_

_I chuckle a little then speak. "Nice to see you again, Uncle Terra."_

[Flashback ends]

Terra was speechless after hearing what happened, and that it was 15 years later. What he couldn't believe the most is that, for an instant to his eyes, I went from that scared, harmless shy little boy into a highly-trained hard core Keyblade Master.

I leave Terra in the hands of Serah and Ventus. They explain everything to Terra. I just hope they don't explain Aqua's situation without me around, I at least want to tell Terra how hard I'm trying to save her from the darkness. Although I do wonder if he remembers battling her in that city before he was driven into the Realm of Darkness.

Guess all that really matters is that Terra is back.

* * *

The bell rings, which signals that school is now over. All the students are just leaving the school. Kairi is just leaving as well. She starts heading into town up until the Heartless appears, surrounding her. Kairi is alert then she summons her Keyblade: Destiny's Embrace. The Shadows approach to her. Kairi fights the Heartless, only her fighting skills are...let's call it beyond rusty.

The girl isn't use to fighting.

Kairi backs away until she is cornered. The Shadows crawls towards her, but Kairi still stands her ground. For an instant, all of the Heartless are destroyed in a single swing.

Kairi was confused, she didn't make that swing. She looks ahead to see, beyond the dark mists of the Shadow's remains, I stand there with my Keyblade held out. I'm the one who defeated those Heartless.

I just stand there in silence, so does Kairi. After a moment, my Keyblade vanishes and I approach Kairi. "You all right?"

"Ye...yeah." Kairi's Keyblade vanishes as well. "Thank you for saving me."

"It was nothing." I say. "So, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh...well, I was just on my way to the island to meet Sora and Riku. Then those Heartless attacked me." Kairi says.

"Not easy being a Princess of Heart is it?" I say, making Kairi laugh.

"Certainly is not. I'm with Sora and Riku all the time and I still feel unsafe from the darkness." Kairi says.

"Fighting for yourself doesn't seem to put that nerve to ease as well." I say.

Kairi looks offended. "Hey, I can fight! I'm just...not as skilled as you are."

"I never expect you to be." I turn to the road leaving to the Town Plaza. "There are probably most of them out there. Let me escort you..." I give Kairi a respectful bow. "Fair princess."

Kairi laughs at my little joke, then she gives a curtsy. "Thank you, kind sir."

We start making our way across the main island. When we enter the Town Plaza, a circular area with a fountain in the middle, that's when we start being attack by the Heartless. I do most of the fight. Kairi also fights, but only doing so little, it feels like I'm really the only one fighting. Every Heartless battle, she does only a total of two or three swings.

The disappointment with the Heartless in this world is that the Heartless are Darkballs, Shadows, Crescendo, Tornado Step, and Bookmaster. The Bookmasters are no problem, but the Crescendo's are annoying with their healing and resurrection abilities. The Darkballs and Shadows are also no help with their hiding abilities, turning to mist or sinking into the ground.

I cast Magnega, which captures all of the Heartless, then do Sonic Blade on them. The Shadows are defeated and then I enter Fever Pitch. As the Heartless are defeated, more appears. Even Kairi starts to become attacked by them. I rush to her side and protect her with Holy Shield. When the Heartless are done striking I counter attack with Counter Aura. I continue attacking the Heartless, then I enter Black Maelstrom.

My dark, vicious attacks did critical against the Heartless. Soon enough, the area is clear and we continue on ahead.

We arrive in Tropical Street, which is a road in a middle of line of houses. The Heartless make another appearance here. "They're everywhere aren't they?" Kairi asks.

"Name a place or world when they're not." I say.

I gather them all with Magnega, then I reach my full power and unleash Black Maelstrom. The Heartless were quickly defeated in the end of that Command Style. Kairi and I move onward, then more Heartless appears.

I activate my D-linking with the Kida Charm. My arms turn to crystal, crystal shards pop out of my shoulder blades and my body glowing in blue light. I attack the Heartless with my heavy hits, then I cast Quakja, causing countless boulders within fifteen yards all around me, to raise out of the ground. All of the Heartless are knocked into the air. When they're on the ground, I use Crystal Breaker on the group of a Defender and two Bookmasters that lay on the ground.

I put all of my force into the Keyblade and slam it on the ground in front of me, causing a wave of crystals to raise out of the ground. That destroyed the Defender and Bookmasters there. The rest of the Heartless gets back on their feet, then I continue attacking them. Kairi is making some progress with her attacks as well.

I do Heavy Slam, leap high and slam my Keyblade on the ground on the Heartless, causing crystals to raise around me. After that, I kill a Darkball with Lava Burst, shooting a ball of molten lava at it. The Darkballs starts attacking me and Kairi. The hits were hard, Kairi starts to weaken even.

when I recover, I heal us with Curaga. "Heal!"

I continue attacking the Heartless, until I reach my full power and unleash Atlantan Heart. I launch a Lava Burst on a Darkball, it sticks on it instead of hurting. I rush towards it, grab it and toss it to the air, then I leap towards it. When I reach it, I use my Keyblade to launch it. It crushes from the ground and lava crystals burst out of the ground in all directions from the impact.

That finished off the Heartless.

Kairi and I start walking down the road outside of town, heading towards the shore. "So, how's your search going?" Kairi looks at me. "Sora told me what happened."

I stop in place hearing that, then Kairi stops and turns looking back at me. "My search is very slim. I'm having no luck finding Aqua."

Kairi approaches me. "Why is she so important to you?"

I'm surprised Sora left that logic out. "Aqua was like a mother to me. I was helpless and scared when I was found, so she took me in."

"She sounds like a very kind person." I nod. "I get how you feel. I usually miss and sometimes worry for Sora and Riku when they leave on their little journeys." Kairi crosses her arms. "It's not fair if you ask me. They go out and have the time of their life while I'm stuck here having a normal life."

"In their defense, you are a Princess of Heart. You should be kept safe and out of danger." Like I can even say that, given to I've brought Belle into such dangers, even through the whole end was meant to be cause of Beast.

"If that's true, then why would they leave me behind all alone where the Heartless can attack me while they're gone?" Kairi points out.

I was about to speak, but I have nothing to say. She's right and I know it. "You may have a point there."

Kairi and I keep on walking until we arrive the Seashore. We just stand at the edge of the beach, looking at the island uphead. "It feels like a lifetime when I was last here." I say.

Kairi looks surprised at me. "Really? When?"

"Fifteen years ago, when Aqua brought me here on my birthday." I say. "Well...it wasn't my actual birthday, I don't really remember my actual birthday, but it was a year after I was found and taken in. For a present, Aqua passed down part of my power into me."

"That sounds very special." Kairi says with a smile.

"Back then, coming here was pretty painful. Cause...well, you know." Kairi nods a little. "Anyway, let's get going."

We walk to the side, heading for the docks, but we stopped when the ground suddenly starts rumbling. "What was that?" Kairi asks, startled.

"That sounds like..."

Something huge bursts out of the water. It rains down upon us. When it stops, we look at the ocean. In the water is a giant hermit crab. It faces use with it's giant two claws and four tentacle legs, with the Heartless emblem on its stomach.

Abyssal Jaws.

"That." I say. I summon my Keyblade then Kairi does as well. "I hope you're ready to fight a Heartless that size!"

Abyssal Jaws starts off by slamming its tentacles on the sand. I avoiding the attacks, but Kairi wasn't so lucky. I attack the Heartless right in the head, throwing a couple of hits then I cast Sparkja. I channel a light orb above me, it divides into five orbs, then launch them at the Heartless. The orbs explode upon impact and rings of light are left in their wake.

Kairi recovers then joins me on the attack. Abyssal Jaws casts Bubblebeam. It breaths many bubbles on us. I block with Holy Shield protecting Kairi and myself. After defending, I attack until I enter Star Surge. I deliver a couple of hits. Abyssal Jaws digs its tentacles into the ground, that's when it starts up its powerful attack.

Kairi and I gather and we channel Holy Barrier, making the tips of our Keyblades touch each other and a light barrier protects us. The tentacles starts piercing out of the sand, impaling at the barrier. Kairi and I channel light magic, gaining power up.

"Strength of the heart." I say.

"Though the power of the holy light." Kairi adds.

We unleash Radiant Light. Light bursts right out of the barrier and it all blasts onto the Abyssal Jaws from above.

The Heartless is knocked out.

Kairi and I continue attacking it, I do Hurricane Flare, then I reach my full power and unleash Star Surge. Kairi's fighting starts to improve, she's throwing my attacks then she usually does on the way here. I cast Stargleam, channeling twilight energy. Three stars appears above my head and shoulders and I launch them directly at Abyssal Jaws.

Abyssal Jaws regains conscious and continues attacking us with its giant claws. The one claw grabs Kairi and I block the other one with my Keyblade. I start sliding back for the sand isn't exactly solid ground I can use to stand my ground. I leap forward, standing on the claw then do a Strike Raid. After that, I cast Firaja, shooting a barrage of fireballs at the Heartless. They stick onto it and then explodes.

The Abyssal Jaws staggers in agony, even released Kairi from its grip. I enter Spell Weaver, attacking the Heartless. Abyssal Jaws does Freeze Beam, casting beams of ice from its tentacles. I freeze from one of them, Kairi was able to avoid them. Abyssal Jaws slams its claw on me. I break free from the ice but the impact hurt twice as much as it normally world.

I cast Curaga to heal myself. "Heal!" I attack Abyssal Jaws with Shadow Dash. "Too slow." That seems to have finish it off.

The Abyssal Jaws is splashing all around as it falls back into the waters. Kairi and I stand in place, positioned to either strike or defend ourselves. Once the Heartless is completely submerged, light glows within the waters then a massive heart is released.

Kairi pants in exhaustion. Her Keyblade vanishes then she collapses on her hands and knees. Clearly that fight worn her out.

"Kairi!" Kairi and I look ahead hearing that. Sora and Riku are arriving on a boat. Once they hit shore, they rush to her side. Sora kneels down and helps her stand up. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Kairi says. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We saw that giant Heartless and thought you were in trouble." Riku says.

"She's all right. It was nothing I can't handle." I say.

"Man...fighting's hard. I don't know how you and Riku do this." Kairi says.

"Takes lots of practice. Me and Sora are always fighting with toy swords when we were little while you were watching us." Riku says.

"So what I'm getting at is she's...inexperienced." I say.

Sora and Riku laughs, but Kairi seems offended, even though it's true.

* * *

On the island, Sora and Riku are having a spar, while Kairi is sitting by watching. Sora makes a charge with a yell, but Riku steps out of the way dodging. Sora stumbles forward and falls onto the sand.

"Giving up all ready?" Sora turns, laying on his bottom. "Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger then that."

Sora gets back on his feet. "I'll show you." He says with a cocky smirk.

Sora charges at Riku. This time, Riku doesn't dodge. He blocks Soras attack with his Keyblade. They hold this position, then Sora jumps back and does a rush strike on Riku. Riku leaps overs Sora to avoid the attack. Sora was surprise to see that. Riku launches and does a sweep strike, knocking Sora back.

"Looks like I win again." Riku says.

"No fair!" Sora complains.

Kairi laughs. "You boys. You two would make the weirdest brothers."

The three of them laugh. Riku helps Sora stand back up and Kairi approaches the two. Now they look at me. I'm sitting on the sitting tree on the pillar island.

"He still sitting there?" Riku asks.

"He's probably thinking about her...About Aqua." Sora says.

"You know, this island was very special to him. It's where she past down the power of the Keyblade to him." Kairi says.

Riku can understand that meaning, for he remembers Terra passing him down that power long ago. And he was told to keep the whole thing a secret.

I just sit on the tree, looking at the sunset lost in thought. Being here reminds me of that day fifteen years ago. I can even see images of myself and Aqua right in front of me on this spot. Aqua kneeling down her Keeyblade held in front of me, I grab it to receive a piece of her power.

I hold my hand out and my Keyblade appears. Aquas voice echoes in my head as I gaze upon it.

'_In your hand. Take this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of making its wielder you shall be. And you will one day find me, my son. No more borders around, or below or above, so long as you champion the ones you love_'

My Keyblade vanishes and I return my attention to the ocean view. "I have the power...I've become its wielder. Nothing can contain me...yet..." I look down in shame. "I have not found you." I gently grab hold of the Wayfinder around my neck, then I look up. "Aqua...please tell me. What must I do?"

"Yo!" I flinch right off the tree and turn to see Sora, Riku and Kairi.

"Oh...It's just you." My nerves settle down. "Geez! Don't you know better then to sneak up on a Keyblade Master?"

"I wouldn't know, I didn't pass my Mark of Mastery." Sora says.

"Right...sorry." I say. "I honestly don't know what else to do." I turn from the ground, looking up. "I have searched everywhere. I just can't find a way to free her from the darkness." I then look down, my fist clenching and shaking with rage. "Damn that bastard Rasputin! Why did he have to take her? What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Calm down. You shouldn't really fester your anger." Riku says. "I remember going through something similar. I want to save my friends Sora and Kairi after our home was swallowed from the darkness. Because of that, I succumbed to the darkness, and the next thing I know I turned against them."

"When I lost Kairi, I thought I would never see her again. Everytime I come close, the darkness just took her away." Sora looks at Kairi with a smile. "But I never gave up. Eventually, I found her and we're together again."

Kairi nods. She approaches to me, putting a hand on my back as she stands by my side. "Sora and Riku have a point. You shouldn't give up too soon, and you shouldn't cast yourself into the darkness. Remember. You are Patrick. The Keyblade Master. You have the power to achieve the above and beyond. If anyone can save a friend from the darkness, its you."

I never really thought of any of that. I wield the power of Twilight, a balanced power of light and darkness. A Keyblade Master, trained under the great Master Yen Sid. I look at Kairi, that smile tells me she really means it.

I smile back at Kairi. "Yeah...you're right." I look forward. "I will find her, even if I have to dive into the Realm of Darkness itself." I summon my Keyblade, aim it in front of me. I shoot a twilight beam, and that opens a portal into the Lanes Between. "First, I'm gonna go check on Terra and Ventus."

Kairi nods. She takes out an item and hands it to me. "This is from me. Consider it a way to tell you to keep going."

I hold the Kairi Charm in front of me. "Thanks. Take care."

I walk right through the portal as it disappears when I cross right through it.


	35. Bonds

**A/N: Destiny Islands is a neat world if I do say so myself. Well, mostly in the graphics and area of Kingdom Hearts 2. It's a shame we don't visit that world. And the Chain of Memories and Coded was barely much a help.**

World: Radiant Garden

* * *

"Royal Flush! I win!"

Everyone grumbles and moans in disappointment as Yuffie takes in the winners pile. It's Merlins House in Radiant Garden and Leon and the gang are playing poker. Only they are starting to regret playing it with Yuffie. If I were there, I'd feel lucky they're not playing strip poker. What barbarian made that game?

"Again? This is the fifth time in the row!" Noel says.

"I agree. She must be cheating!" Cid says.

"Come on, guys. Don't hate me cause I'm lucky." Yuffie says.

"Whatever. Set it up! I want my munny back." Cloud says.

Yuffie sets up the cards for the next round. Time passed on this round. The bets are in and everyone is exchanging looks. Tifa gets a close look on Yuffie, but seems to have notice that, for an instead, an extra card has joined her hand.

"Wait a minute!" Tifa says as she slams her deck on the table. Everyone looks at her, Yuffie with worry. "Where did you get that card?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Yuffie says, trying to play it cool.

Tifa stands up, walking around the table to Yuffies chair. "I saw your deck suddenly receiving an extra card." Tifa is right next to Yuffie, she slams a hand on the table. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing! I'm not doing anything wrong." Yuffie says.

Tifa looks curious, with a raised eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Tifa puts a foot on the chair and kicks Yuffie right off of it. Everyone stands. "Tifa!" Leon and Aerith says.

Yuffie now lays on the ground. Tifa walks up to her, she grabs Yuffie by the feet, holding her upside down, then starts shaking her. "I told you! I! Didn't! Do! Anything!"

Sadly, she's wrong. As Tifa is shaking her, a bunch of Kings, Queens, Jacks and Aces cards starts falling out of her. At first, the gang are concern seeing Tifa like this, but after seeing the cards, they softened. When Tifa was done and just drops Yuffie.

Cid kneels down to pick up a king card. "Hey! Wait a second! You really were cheating!" Cids tone was furious.

Yuffie gets on her feet, only to have Leon, Cloud, Tifa, Cid and Noel walking towards her, either pounding and cracking their fists. Yuffie backs away. "Okay. Oh-okay. I may have...cheated, just a little bit." Yuffie is now cornered. She notices her words aren't really changing anything. "Come on, guys. Let's not be too hasty! Now, why don't we just sit down. Let's just calm down and we can..." Yuffie instantly rushes into her pocket to take out some black orb. "SMOKE BOMB!"

Yuffie slams it to the ground, unleashing a dense smoke in the room.

I arrive at the Central Square, making my way to Merlins house. It's a snowy day in this world. It starts to get chilly so I end up zipping up my coat. I'm not a big fan of the cold, which is ironic given to the fact I carry ice magic and Elsa is apart of my D-linking.

I now stand at the front door of the house, when I open it I'm greeted by a ton of smoke. I start coughing. "What the!"

A shadow runs towards me. For an instant, it turns into Yuffie, but I couldn't make out cause the second she's revealed, she bumps into me, still running. "Out of the way hummer-head!"

I look back to see Yuffie running away, until she's out of sight. "Yuffie?"

I stand back up and walk into the house. I hear everyone coughing. I cast a wind spell to blow away the smoke out of the house. When it's clear, I see a mess of cards and a chair on the floor.

"Yuffie cheating in poker again?" I ask. Everyone answers 'Yay' 'She did' or 'I lost all my munny'. "Hey, I keep telling you guys not to play against her. Don't say I didn't warn yea."

Everyone moans in disappointed. Terra starts walking down the stairs with Serah. I approach the large man, who's still teller then me by a few inches.

"Hey, Terra. You feeling any better?" I ask.

"Yeah. I am, thanks to your friend here." Terra says.

"Well that's good to hear." I say.

* * *

Terra and I go for a little walk around Radiant Garden. Right now, we are in the Bailey. The Bailey is restored to its former glory, but with a few changes. There is now a open passage to the castle gate ruins where it leads to where the Heartless War once took place. It's best to leave an opening so, incase another war breaks out, the bailey won't be destroyed.

Terra and I start walking up the stairs, we arrived from the Restoration Site. We are both dressed up for the snow day. My coat zipped up and wearing my hat. Terra has a trench coat with a gray scarf.

"I still can't believe how much has changed. How long I've been gone." Terra says.

"Ven was in quite a shock as well." I say.

Once we're up the stairs, we get a view of the Hollow Bastion castle that belongs to the Heartless. "So this world, Radiant Garden, fell to darkness. It was because of me, wasn't it?"

"It wasn't your fault. It was Xehanort's. He's the one who commended the Heartless to attack us all." I say.

"You know, I remember everything while I was being controlled by Xehanort. I saw all the horrible things Xehanort made me do. But I could not control my body to stop him." Terra starts to look regretful.

"Don't beat yourself up like that. Xehanort is the one responsible for everything you've done." I face Terra, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder. "But we shouldn't worry about him. We won't be seeing him anymore."

Terra now looks serious. "Yeah, but I wouldn't count on it. Xehanort is a trickster. It's only a matter of time before he regains his power and returns."

"That could be true." I say.

Terra and I move onto the Market Row. There, we found Serah doing some shopping. She is also dressed for winter, wearing a red coat with white gloves. She is right now picking some food. Terra and I just watch her from the Borough entrance. We walk towards Serah. "Hey, Serah."

Serah turns and smiles. "Terra. Big brother. Quite a surprise to see you two here." Serah picks up the grocery bags. "I was just on my way back to Merlins."

"Just be careful out there." I warn her.

Serah nods and walks off. "Come to think of it, why does she call you brother? Is she really your sister?" Terra asks.

"No, she isn't. Serah was brought in long ago. Apparently she had lost her world, so we took her in. I guess she pretty much just saw me as her brother. Just as I saw Aqua as my mother." I say.

"Makes sense." Terra and I were silent for a moment. "Hey...is it really true about what happened to Aqua?"

I was caught by surprise about Terra bringing that up. Why did he have to? "Yes, it's true. Aqua's trapped in the Realm of Darkness."

"How did that happen?" Terra asks.

"A nobel sacrifice. I was the one who was being dragged into the darkness, but Aqua dived into the dark to save me. Only one of us could escape, so she choose me." I say.

"Wow...I never would have guessed Aqua would go that far." Terra says.

"Yes it is. She's in the dark because of me. Which is why I have to bring her back." I say.

"I can help too." Terra says.

"I appreciate your offer, but I think you're in the dark too deep and too long. It's probably best if you stay out of this." I say.

Terra says nothing, just look down in shame. Terra and I start walking. We arrive back at the Central Square. Serah is obviously already back at home. Terra stops when we were in the middle of the Square. I stop and look back noticing he stopped.

"Hey, you know. I realize we never had a spar before." Terra says.

"Yeah, that's true. I was usually fighting with either Aqua or Ven." I say.

"Well, it's never too late." Terra summons his Keyblade, then takes position. "How about a duel?"

I smile then summon my Keyblade as well. "I accept your challenge."

Me and Terra are standing in place. Ventus and Serah walks right out of Merlins house. They notice Terra and I are in the square, positioned to fight.

"What are they doing?" Serah asks.

"It looks like they're about to fight." Ven says.

Terra makes the first move, charging towards me. At the last second, I dodge out of the way. Terra realizes the dodge, he turns to see me come at him. I make a strike, but he manages to block it with his Keyblade. Terra pushes me back. We both strike at each other, parrying and dodging each others attacks.

Terra's more skilled then Ventus, at least this will be fun. I jump a backflip to avoid Terras Quakega attack. When I land, Terra starts charging at me. But I see this coming. I cast a Zero Gravija spell, sending him in the air.

"What the!?" Terra says. I let my guard down, walk up to Terra. I give him a devious smile, grab his foot and pull it with great force, causing him to flip at high speed. "Hey! This is not cool!" Terra says.

Serah and Ven are surprise to see this. "Oh man! I wish I had thought of that." Ventus says.

After a while, the Zero Gravity effect wears off. Terra was able to land on his feet, but he was very dizzy. He can barely stand still on his feet. He manages to stand still for a moment, only to short have his mouth full of vomit, then he hulls.

Serah and Ven were disgusted by the sight of that. "That's not pretty." Ventus says.

After upchucking, Terra takes the moment to recover. He looks directly at me, holding his Keyblade out. "I'll show you!" Terra and I continue our battle.

We are striking, blocking and parrying with our Keyblades. At some point, Terra grabs me by the coat and tosses me over his shoulder. The moment I'm on the ground, I sweep kick, knocking Terra off of his feet, then get back on my own.

"This is amazing. It's like they're both equally skilled." Serah says.

"Terra is more experienced, and he's much more stronger then Aqua and I." Ventus says.

I start throwing faster swings with my Keyblade. Terra blocks each of them. When he dodges the last one, my Keyblade shaves off bits of his hair. Terra notices that close shave, he is not too pleased. Terra starts to come coated in darkness as he yells and makes a charge strike.

Ventus and Serah notices Terras rage. "Oh no, not again." Terra says.

I dodge each of Terras attack. Seeing the darkness within him, I use the darkness myself. I knock Terra back then cast Duskja. Terra blocks the dark mists, after that, he was surprised. While he's standing there frozen, I charge up the Explosion spell, then unleash it.

The battle is over and Terra is on his hands and knees. Serah and Ventus approaches us. Serah does a healing spell on Terra and helps him on his feet.

"I almost thought you had time, Terra." Ventus says.

"Yeah. So did I." Terra looks at me. "Of course, I did expect this, coming from the Keyblade Master trained under the great Yen Sid." I nod. "I really owe you for the save back there."

"You don't have too. It's really nothing." I say.

Terra understands, but he reaches into his pocket. "Here, Xehanort found this when he was controlling me." He takes out a Terra Charm and hand it to me. "I don't have any use of it, maybe you do."

I pocket the charm. "Maybe I will."

After our little duel, we turn in for the night. Right now, I'm just sitting on my bed, in my black t-shirt with red sleeve lines and blue-dark blue plead pajama pants. I now hold my Wayfinder on the palm of my hand, gazing down upon it. I think about Aqua, how much longer can she hold out in the darkness?

"Just a little longer, Aqua. I will find you." I say.

* * *

In my dream, I am my younger five-year old self, having a picnic with Aqua, Terra and Ventus. This event actually happened. Only instead of happening in the beautiful woods of the Land of Departure, it's happening in the city park of Twilight Town.

How is that possible? I didn't even know that world back then. We eat, laugh, watch the clouds. Up to the point where I fall asleep. I lay on Aqua's side, my head on her lap, while she strokes my hair and watching Terra and Ventus having a fight with their toy weapons.

Aqua sure is happy.

When we were done, we head back home. Aqua was carrying me on her back since I was still asleep. We arrive at the castle gates, only the castle isn't the Land of Departure, it's some strange castle, nearly similar to Aurora's castle in the Enchanted Dominion. Only the symbols on the flags are a Keyblade with the ring on the hilt in the shape of the outlined heart (The Kingdom Hearts symbol) and on the tip of the blade is the shape of a crown.

I've never seen a castle like this, yet it's strangely familiar.

We walk right through the gates, only just as Aqua enters, I was bounced back, like there's some barrier that repels me. I'm left behind, and the trio just walks right in like they didn't even notice me. I am banging on the barrier. "Mommy! Mommy!"

Everything turns dark, and Rasputins sinister laughter echoes throughout the area. Giant dark tentacles bursts out of the ground and grabs me, pulling me into the darkness. I try to fight it but it's too strong. Rasputin approaches in front of me, I look up at him. I don't know who he is yet I know he's dark and evil.

"You cannot escape the darkness! It is everywhere!" Rasputin says.

The tentacles pulls me into the dark portal on the ground. I struggle to get lose or to get out, but both are failing. By the time it's just my hand that's surfaced, something warm and light grabs it. The light grows stronger until it banishes away the darkness.

I open my eyes and gasp. I am not yet awake from slumber, for the area I'm now in is in the swirls of darkness. Let me put it like this: It's the same area as Castle Oblivion, only the building up ahead is really the old mansion that belongs to Twilight Town.

I am also my twenty-one year old self. I stand in front of the mansion, looking up it. "What the? What is going on?" My voice is echoing.

I look ahead to see Kairi. She has her back turned, looking at the mansion. She turns to look at me with a smile. What is she doing here? Kairi walks up to me. She grabs my hand, and puts something on it then closes my hand.

"Kairi, what are-" I stop as soon as Kairi puts a finger on her lips. A way of telling me to be quiet. Without saying a word, she turns and walks away, until she vanishes into nothingness.

Even though she's no longer there, I couldn't take my eyes off. When I do, I look at the object in my hand. It's a star-shaped yellow glass charm. It's nothing like a Wayfinder or Kairi's good luck charm.

Then everything goes dark.

I awaken from my sleep. It's now morning, but the sun has yet to raise. That's the beauty of winter...

I sit up, moaning tiresome. "Oh man...what a weird dream." I wipe the sleep from my eyes, only once I do, I notice there's something on my hand. When I look, I'm wide awake as I scream. It's the star charm I was given from Kairi in my dream. "Or was it...?"


	36. Naminé

**A/N: The dream is pretty crazy wouldn't you say? If you guys didn't know what it meant, you're about to find out. But I gotta warn yea, things are about to get insane. Those of you with weak continuations may want to leave...I'm just kidding, I always wanted to say that.**

World: Twilight Town

* * *

I sit on my seat, legs crossed while looking down at the star charm in my hand, as the train travels on its tracks. I am currently in Twilight Town, coming here to find answers to that dream I had last night. I know this city had some answers, since an old event such as that picnic happened in this world, and I didn't even knew about Twilight Town back then, I'm sure Terra, Ven and Aqua didn't know as well.

While the train moves, I hear the other passengers whispering about me.

'Whose the guy in black?'

'Is he a traveler?'

'Never seen him around here.'

'Is he part of Seifer's gang?'

I don't bother with their comments. I just focus my attention on the charm in my hand. I know it's not Kairis, cause I've seen this charm before. Back in Castle Oblivion when Sora had his memories wrecked. I wasn't there from the start, but when I overheard from Organization XIII that the Keyblade Master was there, I know something was up and I had to protect Ventus. I only caught up to the sixth floor when Sora started "remembering" Naminé.

I am aware of Naminé. A witch who has a power over memories. What didn't make sense is how I could have been immune to Naminé's memory changes. While Donald, Goofy and Riku's memories about Sora changed, I remain the same. I even still remember everything about Sora when Naminé took apart his memories while it caused everyone else to forget about him. Not only that, but when Xion is gone, I'm the only one who remembers everything about her, while everyone else forgotten like she never even existed in the first place. Naminé also still remembers but she doesn't count since she's a memory witch.

It's like I have immunity over memory power.

When Naminé put Sora asleep to fix his memories, she asked Riku and I to help her out. I wasn't fond with Riku at first cause I only saw him as an enemy in the darkness, but when Naminé explained to me what happened, I decided to distrust him from a distance.

Naminé kept this charm as a sign of regret for her mistake of what she's done to Sora. I still remember our last conversation back in the Old Mansion.

[Flashback]

"Riku! Patrick! You both know what to do." DiZ said to us.

DiZ, who's really Ansem the Wise, gave Riku and me an assignment that must be done. It's been too long since Sora's been asleep and Naminé is at a stand still on her work. Knowing the block DiZ told Riku to find Roxas and bring him here, while I take care of Xion.

Riku has already left to the World That Never Was to find Roxas. I was just about to depart until I find Naminé sitting on the bench on the mansion courtyard. He's looking down at the star charm she made. I approach Naminé.

"Something on your mind?" I ask.

Naminé looks up. "Oh...it's you." She looks back down at the charm. "Nothing's wrong."

I sit right next to Naminé. "It's about Sora isn't it?"

Naminé nods slowly. "It's all my fault he's like this. He lost his memories. How could he even forget me after all I've done? I'm just like all the other Nobodies: Horrible."

"You really shouldn't blame yourself like that. You really had no other choice. Marluxia and Larxene forced you into this." I say. "You saved Sora and you're going to fix him, isn't all that matters?" Naminé doesn't say anything. "You should at least be grateful he can be saved." I look down in shame. "I couldn't save Aqua from being taken by the darkness, and now she's dead."

Naminé looks at me surprised. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about that."

"It's nothing to apologize for. The burden is mine to bear." I say. "The point is Sora can still be saved, and you're the one who can save him. You shouldn't focus on the mistakes you made. You should try to move forward. All mistakes can be fixed, and that's what you are doing with Sora."

Naminé smiles. "I never thought of it like that." Naminé looks at the charm in her hand. "I've always kept this...cause it was a symbol of my mistake."

"Well, it doesn't have to be like that." I unclasp the Wayfinder and hold it in front of me. "When Aqua made this Wayfinder, she told me and my friends that somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. It represents an unbreakable connection. As long as you carry good luck charmed shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other."

"The sounds very nice." Naminé. "But...If your friends have charms like that, wouldn't you be able to find them?"

I smile disappears and I look ahead. "Terra and Ventus maybe, but...it's already too late for Aqua. She's gone and there's nothing I can do to bring her back."

Naminé shook her head. "Don't give up. I'm sure she's still out there. She's probably waiting for you."

I think about that for a moment. "Yeah...maybe your right." I look up at the sky. "I hope so."

[Flashback ends]

Naminé's talk did boost me some hope that Aqua really was still alive, but it was only so little. That's when the revival item dropped by Father Scrooge took place.

After that dream, I put everything in place: The picnic in Twilight Town. The Old Mansion in the place of Castle Oblivion. Kairi giving me this charm Naminé made. I wonder how Naminé could even have the power to control dreams. I did once heard this during my Mark of Mastery exam in the Dream Worlds: Dreams hold our memories. If that's true, then it's possible Naminé would have to power to control dreams using the memories within them.

If she really is behind all this, then I guess she needs to see me.

* * *

"THE TRAIN WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY."

The person on the speaker says as the train arrives at the station. The doors slide open and all the passengers leave the train. I'm the last one to leave. I also walk right out of the station. It's winter as well in Twilight Town. It's a good thing I'm still in my winter get up, even if it's just a hat and my coat zipped up.

Outside the train station, I look up at the clock tower. It's been a year since I last walked into this world. I still remember my battle against Xion. Even though it was mission to destroy her, I fought with mercy. Even in the end, when she's fading away in my arms, she asked me for one last favor:

'All those hearts I captured...Kingdom Hearts...set them free.'

I fulfilled her wish by destroying the Organization. After having enough memorial, I continue on, making my way to the Old Mansion. I make my way through the town until I arrive at the Sandlot. When I arrive, I notice something going on.

"Ow!" Hayner is on the ground with Seifer in front of him. Pence and Olette are right behind Hayner, looking terrified at the event that's happening.

"That'll teach you not to mess around in my town!" Seifer says.

I'm aware of Seifer. I've seen him a few times around whenever I have a mission by DiZ in this world. Even only seeing him for only a minute every month or so, I can already tell the kind of person who he is.

"Leave him alone!" Olette says.

"Quiet you!" Seifer looks down at Hayner. "This is my town. If you're not gonna follow the rules!" Seifer holds his struggle mallet back. "Then you will be punished!"

Olette gasps, and Pence looks away. Seifer makes the strike. Hayner closes his eyes, waiting for the impact, but nothing happens. Hayner looks up, Seifer seems surprised to see me grabbing his wrist, stopping his attack.

"She said leave him alone." I tell Seifer in a hostile tone.

I shove Seifers arm away. We both stand in front of each other, staring at each other in hostile. "Just who do you think you are?" Seifer asks.

"Doesn't matter who I am, but I know who you are. You say you own this town, but really you are just some bully picking on kids who can barely fight back." I say.

Seifer looks offended hearing that. "What did you say?! You've got some nerve, I'll admit. But I'm warning you, I am Seifer! The strongest person in Twilight Town! I also happen to be the champion of Struggle!"

"What I really see is just some coward hiding behind his silly little title." I shoot at him.

That crowd gasps, letting out 'Oohs.' Seifer's expression is shocked as he stuttering. "How...how dare you! If you are going to run your mouth out like that, you are ready to prove that aren't you!"

Seifer steps back, holding his Struggle mallet in place. I just watch him until a Struggle mallet pops in the corner of my vision. I turn to see Fuu handing me the mallet. I take it and positioned myself.

"I'll teach you how to behave in my town!" Seifer says.

Seifer and I are frozen in place, as if waiting for the first strike to happen. While this is going on, everyone gathers around, looking amazed at what's happening.

'A mysterious traveler going on a one-on-one match against champion Seifer.'

'This will certainly be interesting.'

Seifer charges, then I charge shortly afterwards. We come in at each other. As if this is happening in slow motion, we both being our attack. I see the expression on Seifer's face when he begins to swing his mallet. He has a plan. Well, I have one as well.

I redirected my weapon, swinging from underneath then I strike at the mallet. We both slide past each other, standing in place. What Seifer didn't expect to see is the foam blade of the Struggle mallet rained down and land in front of him. He looks at the broken weapon in his hand, shocked that it was his that broke.

"Im...Impossible!" Seifer drops the hilt, then he drops onto his knees.

The crowd are completely shocked seeing that.

"That guy...he destroyed that weapon." Mai says.

"Is that even possible?" Vivi asks.

I turn looking at Seifer. "If you want to try out another weapon, I'll be happy to take you on." Seifer looks over his shoulder at me. "But I'm sure you had enough...don't you?"

Seifer was silent, just groans in frustration. After a while, he looks down in defeat, stands on his feet walking until he stops right next to his gang. "Let's go." Then continues walking, with his gang following him shortly afterwards.

That's what I thought.

When Seifer's long gone, I walk over to Hayner, he's getting on his feet with the help of Pence and Olette. "You all right?"

Hayner wipes the dirt from his shoulders. "I'm fine." His tone was pretty cold. "I had everything under control."

Hayner starts walking away. "Hayner. Don't be rude." Olette says, but that doesn't stop him.

"Don't worry about him. He's like that sometimes." Pence says.

"Good to know." I say.

"I'm sorry about Hayner. Thanks for helping him out." Olette says.

"You know, it's very impressive. No one in this town has ever destroyed a Struggle weapon, let alone had the guts to stand up against Seifer." Pence says.

"Then I guess I'm going to be pretty popular here." I say.

Pence and Olette laughs. "Anyways, My name's Olette. This here is Pence." Pence waves his hand. "What's your name?"

"Patrick." I say.

"I see. Well, how about we buy you an ice cream. A way of thanking you." Olette says.

"I appreciate it, but I'm busy at the moment. I'm meeting someone in this town." I say.

"Oh, I see. Well, our place is the Usual Spot. It's in the Back Ally. Stop on by when you get the chance." Olette says.

Olette and Pence heads back to the Usual Spot, while I go off in the other direction, heading for the Old Mansion.

* * *

After making my way through the woods, I arrive at the gates of the Old Mansion. It hasn't changed since I was last here. I take a step forward, then I sense something coming at me. Instantly, I turn and swing my Keyblade as it was summoned. I destroyed the Dusk that was about to ambush me.

I turn back to the woods, where more Dusks appear in front of me. I position myself. "I suppose this isn't a greeting Naminé had in mind."

Now it's just me and these Nobodies. At the start, I use the Kairi Charm and activate the D-linking. I'm coated in blue light and my Keyblade is enhanced with water. I do a couple of attacks, some of them involve riding on my Keyblade like I'm surfing around.

The Dusks barely gets a chance to fight back. When I'm finished, I cast Waterja, shooting a large bubble of water. When it hits the Dusks, it bursts and the water splashes around, only within five yards. The Dusks are defeated, but more appear along with Berserkers, and Songstress. I do Destiny's Light, I'm surrounded by seven orbs of light. With my magic, the orbs shoots spins of light and they start spinning around, waving the light in the air or on the ground.

Two Berserkers goes Berserk. When I was done with Destiny's Light, that's when I get caught in the attack. I took a lot of hits. When I was free, I cast Curaga to heal myself then I dodge out of the way before the Berserks unleashed the final assault. When that was done, I cast Faith, summoning pillars of light, they spin and spread out wide.

most of the Nobodies are defeated. I reach my full power. The Songstress attacks me by unleashing a sound wave at me. I avoid the attacks, then I unleash Tidal Wave.

I channel water magic. One at a time, geysers burst out of the ground, the middle on bigger then the others, up to a total of six. When all are assemble, I hold my hand in the air snap my fingers. The moment I do, the geysers collapses and water splashes and waves all over the field, defeating the last of the Nobodies.

When that was done, my Keyblade vanishes and I walk towards the mansion.

Wingull and Zaela saw everything from the top of the mansion. "He's gotten stronger." Wingull strokes his chin. "Of course, that's what I speak from the Keyblade Master."

"Going to see the memory witch." Zaela cracks her knuckles. "Shall I stop him?"

Wingull holds his arm out in front of Zaela. "No. Let him be. Rasputin needs us back in the darkness. The girl's about to break and he wants us there."

"Oh! Finally! I thought I never thought I'd see the day when that toy breaks." Zaela and Wingull vanishes.

I wonder inside the mansion until I found the white room, where Naminé was usually at. I wonder inside the room, looking at all of the drawings she made of Sora's memory.

At the end of the room, I stop, looking at the one memory that belongs to me. I pick it from the wall. It's a drawing of me, Aqua, Terra and Ventus together, in the Land of Departure. Seeing this brings back a bunch of memories. It saddens me.

I roll my eyes to the side. "Why did you summon me here?"

Right behind me, Naminé sits on the other end of the table. "There is something you need to know about."

I roll my eyes back at the picture. "It's about the Aqua or Shadowmoon, isn't it?"

"No. It's about you." Hearing that caught me off guard. I turn looking at Naminé, then take a sit on the chair at my end of the table. We just sit in silence, until we speak. "Patrick...do you know who you are?"

I nod. "I am Patrick. Keyblade Master, trained under the great Yen Sid."

"That is true, but that's not what I'm talking about." I wonder what she means, but realizes when she continues. "Do you know who you truly are?"

I see where she's going with this: My forgotten memories. "No...everything's still a blank." I rest and fold my hands on the table. "You found out, didn't you?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, it's still unclear. But I've made a shocking discovery about you." About me? This doesn't sound good.

"What is it?" I ask.

"The moment I found out how you couldn't be affected by me changing Sora's memories, I was confused. It didn't make sense how you were untouched by Sora's memories. But then there's the part when you didn't forget all about Xion. That's when I know something's wrong." I don't understand this.

"What does that have to do with my lost memories?" I ask.

"There is a powerful, unstable darkness deep inside of you." Hearing that certainly surprises me. "The Voidful Mind."

"The...Voidful Mind?" I ask.

"Yes." Naminé places a mirror on the table and slides it across. "Look in the mirror. It'll sure you the truth."

I pick up the handheld mirror, looking at myself within it. At first, I see nothing. But as I look closely, that's when I see it. A dark, black aura surrounding my head. I slightly gasps seeing that.

"The Voidful Mind is a dark power. Some people consider it a gift, but it's really a curse." Naminé explains.

I put the mirror down, looking at Naminé. "Why a gift?"

"The purpose of the Voidful Mind is to prevent you from every remembering any memories it has engulfed. While it does that, it prevents you from ever forgetting anything else, and would also prevent any further memory losses." Naminé says.

"Much like your memory powers, or the nature of Xion fading out of existence?" I say.

"That is right." Naminé says. "But the Voidful Mind is very dangerous. Whenever you try to remember something that is from the memories it's taken, it'll fight back. Damaging your mind."

I didn't expect to hear that. But then I remember something: The migraines. They happened whenever I found something familiar. The Blossom Tree in Mulan's house. Belle's village on fire. The crystals in Atlantis. I look at Naminé.

"Is there anything you can do to fix this?" I ask.

Naminé shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't. Only you can. You must fight against the Voidful Mind."

"How can I do that?" I ask.

Naminé takes out a card. She tosses it to me and I catch it. The picture of the card is an upside down Keyblade, with a heart shaped ring, that's right side up, on the hilt and a crown on top of the heart.

"This card I created out of the memories the Voidful Mind has taken. If you take that to Castle Oblivion, you'll see everything that's behind the darkness that covers them. You will see who you are, where you came from. Everything that happened before Aqua found you." I remain silent, then Naminé continues. "The Voidful Mind will not attack you when your visiting these memories, but you will face it in the very end of it. I've done all I can do, now the rest is up to you."

I look at Naminé and nod. "Thank you, Naminé. I'll fight the darkness in my mind and uncover my forgotten."

I stand up, but suddenly stop the moment Naminé speaks again. "Wait! There's something you need to know. The Voidful Mind feeds of with each uncontain memory inside of you, making it stronger and stronger. You had it inside of you for sixteen years. There is no telling how powerful it is. But if you lose, the Voidful Mind will not only destroy your memories, but also your heart."

I'm shocked to hear that. "Destroy...my heart?"

"That is right. But the Voidful Mind cannot harm you as long as you try not to remember any memories its taken. So you have a choice: You can go to Castle Oblivion and face it. Or you can ignore that card and live the rest of your life with the darkness." I'm silent, and so is Naminé. "That is all the information I can give. The rest is up to you. Good luck, Patrick."

I don't move nor speak. I look at the card in my hand, wondering what I should do. Then I look up to see an empty chair at the other end of the table. Naminé is gone.

I have two choices that determines my fate. My destiny. And my very life.

What should I do?


	37. Lost Memories

**A/N: So, you all finally get to see who I really am in this story. I can only imagine how long you guys have been waiting for this moment to happen. Fair warning: Things are about to get...pretty dark.**

World: Castle Oblivion

* * *

It was a hard decision to make, but I have decided to put an end to this...Voidful Mind.

I walk through the hallway of the first floor in Castle Oblivion. I now stand in front of the door. I take out the card Naminé gave me and look down at it. Her words echo in my head:

_'There is no telling how powerful it is. But if you lose, the Voidful Mind will not only destroy your memories, but also your heart.'_

I take a deep breath. I drop my hand, still holding onto the card, then I grab hold of the Wayfinder with my other hand. "Terra. Ventus...Aqua. You were always there for me in my time of need...especially you, Aqua. My mother...Please, just help me out one more time. Lend me strength to conquer the darkness inside me."

I now look at the door, with bravery, then I raise the card. The door opens and then I step right into the light.

The door closes behind me. So far, there is nothing but light, then it all turns into darkness. The Darkness, this must be the inside of the Voidful Mind. After a moment, the darkness starts to clear.

Right now, I'm in a middle of some town village. It's nothing like I've ever visited. It's almost a mix of the small village in Ville De Roses and the building towns of Radiant Garden.

This world is known as Kingdom of Hearts.

This village barely feels familiar to me. As I wonder, two villagers are chatting as I walk past them.

"You going to the kingdom?" The one villager asks.

"Of course. I wouldn't want to miss the birth of the LeiShen prince." The second one says.

I watch the villagers. "LeiShen prince?" I ask, then I follow them.

The road wasn't very long, but I followed them all the way to the kingdom. I'm surprised, the kingdom is the exact same one I saw in my dream. The one Aqua, Terra and Ven entered. I just stop in front of the gates. I still remember how there was some barrier that prevents only me from entering.

I take a big step, pass the gates. Nothing happens. With that, I continue moving onward.

After crossing the bridge, I get in the line of crowds that are heading into the castle. After a while, I'm finally inside. I'm amazed at the sight of the Foyer. The inside reminds me of the castle in the Land of Departure. "This is amazing." I say.

The castle is large, but the Audience Chamber wasn't too difficult to find. The place is crowded. I make my way through the crowd all the way to the thrones. When I finally made it, there I see two people, the king and queen by the looks.

The king has red hair with a short beard and is in full on plate armor in blue, gold and white. The only thing exposed is his head. The queen is a short brunette in an elegant pink dress with red roses designed on the top. What I'm surprised is that King Mickey and Minnie are also here, then again, I do remember Minnie telling me they visited the LeiShen's once.

In the cradle lays their child, the LeiShen king and queen that is. I look curiously at the cradle. There's a baby sleeping in there. Strangely, he looks very familiar. That's when I have a horrible realization. I gasp, mouth covered and step back.

"T-that...baby...Is..." I look back in the cradle. "Is that...me?"

"Sire. I would like to bestow my gift to your child." I turn to see Mickey walking up to the cradle. He summons his Keyblade, the tip of it glows in holy light, then gives a gentle tap on the baby. "The gift of the light. Whenever he is in trouble by the darkness, the light will guide him to the light of another, one who will protect him from the forces of evil."

I see that King Mickey has given me a gift. "That's very generous, your highness." The king says.

As the party goes on, the chamber doors burst open. Everyone stops to see what is going on. LeiShen banners, which is the same symbol was the Keyblade from the card and the flags in the dream, head towards this direction. The citizens clears the way to reveal Rasputin in chains surrounded by several guards. I look at Rasputin curiously, I remember him from the dream, the man that dragged me into the darkness before Kairi, who I believe is really Naminé in disguise, saved me at the last minute.

"Sire! We have found the foe of darkness that was disturbing our holy ground." The knight says.

The king approaches before Rasputin. "Rasputin...my most trusted high priest. How could you?"

I look at Rasputin. "So...this is Rasputin."

Rasputin looks at the king. "It is simple. Darkness is the true essence of everything. It is the source of all power. Kingdom Hearts belongs to the darkness!"

"Enough of this nonsense!" The king summons his Keyblade, Royal Heart: Which is a long Keyblade that's a similar model of the Ultima Weapon (the Kingdom Hearts 1 model) "You have left me with no choice but to banish you!"

The king channels holy chains. They wound around Rasputin and tightens. A flash of light happens, and that's when Rasputin disappears. I can only imagine what happened to him.

* * *

Visiting my lost memories goes on for a while. Exploring my birth world is pretty exhilarating. Getting to see my people, my family. For some strange reason, I start seeing my birth mother more like Aqua. I never understand why, but I guess it's possible she's more like a mother to me cause I've known her in my life, while I barely even know my real mother.

What I did learn is that, in the gardens, there is a cherry blossom tree that's my favorite. That's when I realize the migraine I had in Land of Dragons. It's cause the blossom tree was apart of my old life in this world.

I wonder through my memory train until I reach to my fifth year. Interesting fact I learn is that October 9th really is my birthday.

There's a big party celebrating my birthday. Being in royalty sure makes things so festive. Makes me wonder what King Mickey does for parties and such.

Everything was going very well, until a dark twist happens. People starts screaming in horror as the shadows starts darkening the room, starting from the entrance. When it reaches to the thrones, what was revealed is Rasputin. He looks the same, but the only difference is that he's wearing some necklace with a charm that looks like the shadow eye that serves as the keychain on Xehanort's Keyblade.

My young-self huddles with the queen. "Mommy. I'm scared."

"Don't worry, sweetie. Your daddy has this under control." The queen says.

This will be interesting to watch. The king approaches Rasputin. "What is the meaning of this?" The king asks.

"You think you can banish me, you are sadly mistaken!" Rasputin says.

"You are no longer welcome here, Rasputin! You have betrayed us!" The king says, summoning his Keyblade and taking out his shield. His shield is in the shape of the cross, and on it are two Kingdom Key Keyblades designed to form the cross on the shield.

"That is where you are wrong, 'your highness'. You will rue the day you've turned against me! I will see to it the LeiShen's will meet their end!" Rasputin summons his Keyblade, the Chaos Ripper. Everyone gasps at the sight of that, even the king is shocked.

"Rasputin...you...You can wield a Keyblade?" The king says.

"Being in the dark has given me many gifts. Such as this!" The tip of Rasputin's Keyblade pulses with dark energy. He shoots a beam of darkness in the air.

A large orb of darkness appears in the center of the ceiling. When it clears, it reveals a large crystal heart of energy. The moment I saw it, I gasped. "The Heart of Atlantis!" I say.

Rasputin casts dark chains. They circle around the king and holds him together. Rasputin does dark magic on the king. the power drains the king, up until he's reduced to nothing more then a Shadow Heartless. Everyone screams in terror seeing that, even the queen and I are terrified.

"Now I BANISH YOU!" Chains of darkness surrounds the Shadow then it sinkens into the darkness.

The day goes around. I enter up seeing everything in the courtyard and the village. Buildings are burning, the Heart of Atlantis shooting powerful beams all over the world. The beams that hit causes everything to turn to crystal, or causes the ground to shake and crystals raise out of the fissures.

I am terrified at the very sight of Rasputin's assault here. Everything is exactly as I remembered seeing in a nightmare I had back in the Land of Departure.

Heartless attacking.

Citizens captured or panicking.

The LeiShen warriors either turning to Heartless or being banished into the darkness.

Everything Rasputin is during in this hour of darkness, it was completely utterly without a doubt horrible. And I was too weak and powerless to do anything to prevent it.

The worst part was seeing me losing my parents. My dad turning into a Heartless and my mother dying in the hands of Rasputin.

* * *

All that remains of this world is a small island, float right underneath the large dome of darkness. Much similar to what happened to Destiny Islands back when Sora received the Keyblade. My young self is running for his life. Err, my life. Up to the point when darkness appears underneath me and the dark vines hold me in place.

Rasputin walks towards me from behind. "My sweet child. How does it feel being the last LeiShen in existence?"

"Let me go! Please!" My young self says in fear.

"You miss your mommy and daddy?" Rasputin says, doing a child's tone in mockery. Okay, I'm trying to hate this guy. "Well, you're about to join them where you're going!"

Rasputin channels dark magic on my young self. Seeing this makes it feel like it's happening to the real me right now. The darkness coats my young self, until I lost conscious. Rasputin smiles in delight.

"Yes! Yes! YES!" Just when he has me, that's when the darkness appears underneath him. The dark vines grabs him and starts pulling him down. Rasputin starts panicking. "No! NO! Not yet!" I'm confused. Just what is going on here. "Just a little more time! Please! I'm almost there!"

Next thing I know, Rasputin is completely submerged, and his power over me was interrupted. However, the darkness he left on me surges around the younger me and implants itself into my head. I'm guessing that's how the Voidful Mind happened.

My young self lays in the middle of what remains of this world, unconscious, until I get caught in the current of the darkness and it swallows me whole.

I stand in the center, looking up into the large darkness. I still can't believe this, all of this, is happening.

"I...I am...the last LeiShen?" Just then, I start getting a migraine, the worst of them all. I fall on my knees as the dark aura reveals itself on me from head to shoulders. I shout in agony and the darkness that surrounds me exiles from my eyes and mouth.

The darkness gathers at the edge of the island in front of me. When it's out of my system, I collapse. The darkness forms into a large swirl on the ground. I start regaining my strength. I look ahead to see the darkness on the ground. A large arm reaches out, then the other arm and then the head. I get on my feet and step back as the dark creature raises out.

It's a Heartless, but it's not just any ordinary Heartless. It's Darkside, only it's body is in multi-colored linings. It's much more like Sora's Heartless from the Datascape then the Darkside. But it also has shackles on its left wrist and both ankles, and chains wrapped around it's right arm.

It's the Voidful Mind.

I summon my Keyblade, taking my position to fight. I focus on gathering the cards for a Sleight. Meanwhile, the Voidful Mind starts its attack by punching the ground, causing a dark pool and mild shockwave to form. I gather a Dusk 4, two 5 attack, 9 attack and a 1 attack. Shadow Dash. I make my dark rush attacks on the fist that's on the ground. After Shadow Dash, I continue attacking. After about seven hits, Voidful Mind retreats is hand.

While the hands are unreachable, I do some spell Sleights, mainly fire, dusk and thunder spells. Voidful Main tries attacking but my cards are too strong for it to break with it's solo card drawing. For another Sleight, I gather a Quasimodo 8, Quasimodo 5 and a Quasimodo 9.

Saint De Bell.

I channel the Holy Bell, as it rings right on the Voidful Mind's head. When Saint De Bell ends, Voidful Mind makes its attack by creating a dark force in the heart-shaped hole in its body, which fires dark homing missiles. I focus to make a sleight, during that process, I get hit by two of the missiles. I gather a Lightning 9, Thunder 1, Attack 5, Attack 7 and Attack 3. With that, I do Thunder Blade.

A massive large sword, longer then my height, appears in my hands, enhanced with electricity. I do a swirl as I jump. After two spins, I throw the Thunder Blade in front of me. Once it's pierced on the ground underneath the Voidful Mind, it unleashes a large dome of electricity.

The Voidful Mind is defeated.

The giant creature starts dissolving. I only stand in place, positioned to attack. The Heartless melts until it's nothing more then a large puddle of darkness. I look cautious, yet confused. "That was...surprisingly easy."

I stand in place, just looking at the black puddle. Just then, it gives a single bubble. I was on alert, then two more happens. The world starts shaking, then a chant echoes all around.

'MEMORIES!'

The puddle bubbles rapidly.

'THEY FUEL MY HUNGER! MY STRENGTH!'

I look all around, on high alert. I just know this isn't over.

'SOON! I WILL FEAST ON THE HEART!'

I turn my attention back to the dark puddle hearing that. A bubble grows instead of popping. It floats off the ground, and the puddle disappears as well. The bubble is about my size, then it starts morphing into a body form.

It transforms into me.

The Voidful Mind is me, but my hands are the Darkside's claws and arms coated in darkness. So are the legs. The shackles and chains remain the same as it was from it's prevous form. The Voidful Mind faces me and opens its red eyes.

"Holy...Cheese." I say.

The Voidful Mind summons its Keyblade: Forsaken. It's a black, purple and red color with a Castle Oblivion Card for the blade tip and keychain. The Voidful Mind takes it's position, which is similar to mine.

I start off with a couple of attacks. During the third strike, the Voidful Mind breaks my card with a number 8, and it strikes at me with it's dark hits. I dodge roll away and then focus a Sleight. The Voidful Mind focuses on one of its own as well. I do a Dusk 6, Spark 1 and Attack 4. Star Surge.

I make the hits on the monster, but before I give the final blow, it breaks my attack with it's 24 Blade Storm. It throws its Keyblade in the air, then floats and unleash powerful energy, then tons of Keyblades rain down from the sky. I just dodge roll until I was able to break this ability with a 0 attack. I focus on a Sleight. Terra 2, Quake 9 and Attack 6. Geo Impact. I give a single, heavy upper strike, causing a boulder to raise from the strike.

Voidful Mind does its attacks on me, while it does, it does a Sleight. 13 Chains of Woe. Dark chains come at me everywhere, holds me in place. Voidful Mind channels black magic and unleashes dark homing missiles at me, ten times more then it does in Darkside form. When that's over, I heal myself with 19 Curaga. Then I gather a Terra 7, Terra 5 and then a Magic 9. Meteor.

I summon a single meteor, coming down towards the Voidful Mind. The Voidful Mind attacks me, I counter attack with a few attacks. Then I gather a Ventus 0, Thunder 4 and Aero 9. Lightning Nova. The Voidful Mind didn't take the rapid electric strikes well, or the thunder blast in the end.

The Voidful Mind stands in place, looking exhausted. I yell as I charge towards it. I leap, as I do, it gets its second wind and blasts its Chains of Woe at me.

I'm held in place, but the Voidful Mind doesn't unleash its dark missiles. Instead, it slowly approaches me.

'YOUR HEART IS WEAK!'

The Voidful Mind stands, glaring down in front of me. I struggle to break free, but the chains are too strong.

'YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH BEHIND YOUR LOST MEMORIES!'

Voidful Mind grabs my shoulders, it opens it house, exhaling dark mists into my mouth. During that sends extreme pain all over my body.

'THE DARKNESS IN YOUR MIND WILL DESTROY YOU!'

I realize what it's doing. The Voidful Mind is trying to destroy my memories, then my heart. Just like Naminé warned me. With my free hand, free from holding the Keyblade that is, I use all my remaining power to summon a Ruinga in my hands, then I launch it at the Voidful Mind.

The explosion knocks the dark creature back. I collapse on my knees from being released from the attack. Normally I just collapse on my full body, but the chains prevent me from doing so. It takes a while for me to recover my strength, then I use it to cast a Quakja. It breaks the chains that binds me.

I weakly get back on my feet, looking straight at the Voidful Mind. It's getting up, already on its feet. I charge at it in a burst of speed, giving it a swift strike.

The Voidful Mind stands frozen in place from the blow, then it overrides, dark lightning coursing through it and it's body cracking with dark beams bursting out of it, then it explodes.

I have also learned a new Command Style: Elemental Mastery.

I've done it. I destroyed the Voidful Mind. The second it's gone, I have regain my memories. I now remember everything I have seen.

I am Patrick. The Prince of the LeiShen's...no, I'm the last LeiShen.

* * *

The scenery suddenly changed. I'm right now in the middle of the lanes in between. I wonder why I am, was I teleported out of Castle Oblivion? No. I'm still inside my memories, cause right in front of me is the world of Kingdom of Hearts. The world is covered in darkness until it is complete engulfed.

I'm disappointed to see this, seeing my home being destroyed by the dark. I'm caught by surprise to see a small glimmer of light in the massive darkness. Like a shooting star, it bursts right out of it, at my direction.

Instantly, I get a glimpse of what the shooting star was. It's me as a child. I stare at it until it's out of sight. I wonder if this was Mickey's gift. The light that's going to send me to the light of another.

The scenery changes once again. Now I'm in a middle of the forest in the Land of Departure. I look up in the sky to see a shooting star in the middle of the day. I know it's really me. My young self splashes into the river, then after a moment, I surface on the water, still unconscious. My body lays on a log, which is what's preventing me from sinking.

I only follow myself for a minute, then that's when Aqua shows up. She runs into the river, checking me. "You're alive." then she carries me and leaves.

This must be where I'm all caught up to where I've met Aqua.

That is everything the card can show me.

I now leave Castle Oblivion, right out of the doors with the expression of terror and sweet. After about five feet, I collapse on my knees, gasping and sweeting with my hands over my ears.

I am overwhelming in anxiety. I'm a complete mess. Everything I just saw: My past, my family, my home. It's all taken away, by some monster. After sixteen long years, all I've ever done is forgotten it all. Why did I have to forget it all? I know why cause of the Voidful Mind, but WHY?

'_I have discovered something about you, who you really are'_

Aqua's voice echoes in my head. Hearing that shocks me like I was hit by a bus. "She...she knew. She knew what happened, didn't she?" I move my arms, crossing them in front of my chest. "But...how did...she know? Unless..."

'_My dear old friend Yen Sid...He still keeps a close eye on the tides of light and darkness_.'

I remember Eraqus saying that before Aqua and Terra had left. I gasp, realizing what that could mean. "The master!"

I get back on my feet and run down the path. Yen Sid has some answers, I know it.


	38. Dark Invasion

**A/N: All is revealed, maybe not all. I'm sure there's still a few you might wonder. Let's move on to the next chapter, where my rescue with Aqua begins...or does it? How about we find out? And why am I talking to a computer?**

Worlds: Mysterious Tower/Radiant Garden

* * *

Yen Sid sits upon his seat in front of his desk, concentrating. While he's focusing, that's when I arrive on the courtyard of the tower. I come to Yen Sid for answers about my past. If anyone knows anything about the Shadowmoon Invasion upon Kingdom of Hearts, he does.

I make my way up the tower, until I enter Yen Sid's chambers. Upon my arrive, I stand straight with respect.

"Master Yen Sid." I say.

Yen Sid opens his eyes. "Ah. Patrick. My master pupil. How are things going?"

I arrive Yen Sid. "Fine, master. Listen..."

Yen Sid raises a hand telling me to stop talking. "I know why you are here. It's about your past, isn't it?"

I'm a bit surprised to hear that. "You knew?"

"Of course. The stars have told me." Yen Sid says. "Out of nowhere, Naminé's star returned, and at the same time, yours was shining brightly as hers. Then when her star has blinked out, yours was still very bright. The stars have told me that you went to Castle Oblivion under Naminé's instruction." I look down in shame, I should have realized he would have known all that. "I trust you have regain your memories?"

"I have, master...It's just, why didn't you tell me?" I ask.

"At first, I didn't know. When Eraqus told me about you being found, the stars couldn't verify who you were. But, then when the stars told me about what happened to the LeiShen's. They have all fallen, all but one. With the time of the end of the LeiShen's to the time of your arrival, I was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together." Yen Sid says.

"Is that way you trained me, cause you know I was a LeiShen?" I ask.

"Indeed. With all the other masters gone, I had to step up and take charge." Yen Sid says. "Sure, you could have been a self-taught like Sora and Riku, but what you need is guidance and mastery. If word got around that you were the LeiShen, trouble would have come."

I want to say 'You were too late on that' cause that kind of trouble is what took Aqua away. "Yes I...suppose you're right, master." I say. "There's something I want to know."

"And what is that?" Yen Sid asks.

"If I was the last LeiShen the whole time, how come the Shadowmoon haven't been coming for me? I mean, why after all these years did they start coming after me?" I ask.

Yen Sid closes his eyes. "Hmm...I believe that this is Aqua's doing."

I am surprised to hear that. "Aqua? ...How?"

"When the darkness dragged her in, she was taken to the Shadowmoon. Rasputin demanded Aqua to hand over the LeiShen, in return he'll set her free so she can help Ventus and Terra. But she refused. Rasputin saw her protection over you as an act a treason. Aqua fought with all of her might in the darkness, to hold off the Shadowmoon." I am speechless to hear that. "Fifteen years later, she has begun to reach her limits. The power she once had to fight the darkness and hold off the Shadowmoon is now only used for her own survival."

I slam my hands on the table. "Rasputin!" I look directly at Yen Sid. "Just what the hell is the deal with him?"

"He is lost. Rasputin is a wise man, but he lacks compassion. He lusts for power and he'll do anything to have it, no matter the consequences of himself or others. He choose the path of darkness believing it was stronger then the light, and because of that he received banishment." That I believe. "Outraged, he hungers for vengeance against the LeiShen's. Xehanort found him in the darkness and told him about a dark power he can possess."

Yen Sid does some magic, in a puff of cloud, an image of the necklace appears on the table. "The Eye of Chaos. A powerful trinket that grants its wearer unimaginable power. Rasputin sold his soul for this trinket. It is his very life essence."

"So, I destroy that necklace, and he's as good as dead?" I ask.

"Correct." The image of the necklace disappears. Yen Sid looks out the window. "Aqua's star is still shining, but it's fading, soon be to blinked out." Hearing that saddens me. Yen Sid returns his attention to me. "You know now what you must do?"

I nod. "Yes, master. I will save Aqua then I'll put an end to Rasputin."

Yen Sid smiles. "Yes. Now go, and fulfill your destiny...Master Patrick."

I nod then make my leave. When I'm gone, Yen Sid stands, walking to the window looking at the stars. "Aqua...do not worry. Your prayers will be answered."

Now I ride my Hoverbike in the lanes between. I wonder how it is I'm going to rescue Aqua from the Realm of Darkness. I can barely find a way to enter the darkness. There use to be an obvious one, but Sora and Mickey locked the door after defeating Xehanort's Heartless.

As I ride, I am driven close to Radiant Garden. To my surprise, the world is covered in darkness. "What? What's happening to Radiant Garden?"

Without any further hesitation, I ride my way towards the world. Something bad is happening.

* * *

I arrive at Radiant Garden, I ride in the skies, shocked at the very sight of this peaceful city. I shouldn't call it peaceful anymore. Everywhere, they are Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed invading the city. Dark portals in different locations, dozens of the monsters coming out in every second.

"No!" I whisper.

I arrive in the Borough area, I notice Serah is in trouble. Cornered by Heartless. The Soldiers makes a strike, Serah cowers. Just before they made contact to Serah, that's when I slam on the ground, unleashing a Quakeja. As they're knocked in the air, I do Transcendence. Unleash a Zero Gravity spell, the whole thing turns into a zero gravitational field and I command all the Heartless trapped within to be bounded around until they're destroyed.

Serah waits for the attack from the Heartless. After waiting too long, she looks to see me instead of the Heartless. "Big brother!" I turn only to be embraced by Serah's arms in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you came back! I thought I was a goner!"

"You're welcome." I push Serah off of me. "Just what the heck is going on?"

"We don't know, the forces of the darkness started attacking our world." Serah looks over me and screams. I turn to see Magicians and Songstresses on the roof of a building. They attack us by throwing cards and sound waves. Serah huddles behind me while I block with Holy Shield. When they cease fire, I counterattack with a Spark Raid. When my Keyblade hits one, it splits and takes out the other Nobodies nearby.

Serah starts pulling on my arm. "Leon called an emergency meeting! Quick! To Ansem's Study!"

Serah and I hurry over to the castle while the Heartless, Unversed and Nobodies are chasing after us. Serah stays close to me while I do all the fighting. Whenever Serah's in danger, I rush over and protect her. The towns defense system is also being a help, but not too much.

We arrive at the Bailey, only we stop to get a view at the outside walls. Countless Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed marching towards the city. "Whoa...Look at that!"

"It's the Heartless War all over again." I say. We both look down, seeing all of them coming into the city through the new entrance. "Good thing we made that new entry there. Wouldn't want another explosion like last time."

We're not gonna get to the castle with the large army of dark forces. I land in the middle of the lane, blowing an Aeroza to knock them back, then I start channeling my power. The Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed come after me, then I blast a Stopza wave in front of me, freezing all of them in time.

"Come on!" Serah hurries towards me, then we run up the Restoration Site.

I take on the Armored Knights, Dawn's and Monks. I start off casting Halo then unleashing Shadow Dash. I enter Star Surge, I continue attacking until there's no more, then I move on until more dark forces attack. I gather with Magnega then cast Thundaja. The enemies are defeated, then I enter Elemental Mastery.

I'm coated in multi-color is red, yellow, blue, orange and green, and six Keyblades surrounds me, each enhanced in a different element: Water, Ice, Fire, Thunder, Earth and Arcane. At the next wave of dark forces, I attack, using two weapons. Dual Wielding. Every two combos I do, I switch weapons. First Fire and Ice, second Earth and Wind, lastly Water and Arcane.

The enemies dies quickly from my attacks. We both reach the Postern. To my surprise, there's a dark portal here. Defenders and Samurai's take over this area. I gather them with Magnega, then continue attack, up until I reach my full power and unleash Elemental Mastery. The Keyblades circle around me in Hexagon form, then they planet on the ground. I channel elemental power. In each divider, Fire raises, water splashes, ice shards rain down, earth spikes raise, lightning strikes and Ruin orbs rain down, then I unleash all my power, unleash a powerful element wave in each corner.

That attack destroys the Nobodies and Heartless, then the next wave of them and Unversed. Destroyed the second they appeared. With this area clear, Serah and I head down the next path, heading to the Front Doors.

The Front Doors has the giant wave attacks of the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed. "Serah! Take cover!" I use my Ralph Charm, activating the D-link then fight head on against the dark forces. Armored Knights and Dusks attack me, I block with Holy Shield then countered with Counter Aura. I attack hard on the enemies. I break through the Defenders shields with Breaker.

More of them appear, dozens. Wyvern's and Dragoons were a hard hit since I couldn't do any wind or magnet spells. I cast Quakeja to handle the ground enemies, then I attack the Wyvern's. Dragoon's attack by doing their Jump ability. I was able to dodge roll out of the way, then I do Brutal Blast, gathering strength then do a jump sweep, striking nearby enemies with all my strength.

A next wave of enemies appear, that's when I unleash my full power: Building Wrecker. Half the dark forces are risen up on the pillar. They were quickly destroyed by my wrecking, while the ones on the ground are defeated by the falling boulders.

With the enemies down, Serah and I approach the castle doors, where we are greeted by a lance and mace blocking our way.

"No one is allowed in the castle." Aeleus says.

I face both Aeleus and Dlian seriously. Saying to them the password. "Darkness In Zero."

Aeleus and Dlian exchange looks, then remove their weapons. "Very well. You may enter."

* * *

Leon and the gang await in the computer room of Ansems Study. The meeting for the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee is suppose to start, but they are still waiting for Serah and I. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and the King are here as well. So are Terra and Ventus.

Serah and I finally arrived. "Sora. Riku. Kairi? You all are here?"

"Of course. We are part of the Restoration Committee." Sora says.

"Well, Sora, Donald and Goofy are. We're just the guests." Riku says.

"Now that everyone's here, let's begin." Leon turns to the computer. "Tron. Can you bring up the map of the town?"

The lights dim and a hologram of the city of Radiant Garden appears in the center of the room. Throughout the city, purple dots appear, each of them far out of the other.

"Okay. There are portals all over the city, each of them coming from the dark realm." Hearing that has me curious. "The Heartless, Nobodies and these...Unversed creatures, are coming out of them."

"Just who is behind all of this?" Cid asks.

"Xehanort?" Terra asks.

"No. It can't be." I say. "Xehanort's power greatly diminished when I faced him back in the Keyblade Graveyard. I have a gut feeling this is the Shadowmoon's doing." I know it's them, and I know why: They're here for me.

"The Shadowmoon? You mean those guys in the darkness from the stories, who are hunting for 'The Last LeiShen'?" Riku's tone sounds like he's doubting me.

"They're true. I encountered them many times during my travels finding Aqua." I say.

They're nothing but silence. Each of them exchange looks. Some think the Shadowmoon are now true, some think they're still a myth. None of them had the voice to speak their minds.

"Okay. Moving on. There are a total of five portals in the city. They're all located in the Market Row, Central Square, Postern, Reactor Area and Purification Facility." Leon says.

"But Leon, where are countless hordes coming from the Castle Gates Ruins." Serah says.

"Serah's right. We saw it. Endless Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed coming from the Dark Depths. I have a feeling there's another portal down there." I say.

"We'll worry about that one later. Right now, we should focus on the town." Leon's right. "We'll split up. Riku, can you close those portals?"

"It won't be easy, but I can try. But I'm going to need some back up. I have a feeling those portals are not going to be left unguarded." Riku says.

He's not wrong. We did encounter enemies on the one in Postern. "Don't worry, Terra, Ventus and I will tag along." I say.

"Very well. Sora, Donald, Goofy. I need you guys to hold off the darkness coming from the Castle Gates Ruins. Do not let them enter the town." Leon says.

"You can count on us." Sora says.

"Serah, you and Aerith evacuate the citizens. The king will help you fight off the enemies." Leon says. Serah nods, Aerith and Mickey smiles. "Kairi, you stay here and look after the evacuated citizens. Make sure they are safe."

Kairi is not too pleased with her role. "But I want to fight!"

"No offense, Kairi. But you won't stand a chance out there." Leon says.

"Leon's right. Back on the islands, you bearly survived on your own against the Heartless. You'll be eaten alive out there." Even though what I say is true, it still sound cruel. "Besides, the civilians will feel much safer with a Keybearer with them."

Kairi bends down with a depressed sigh. "I guess you're right."

"The rest of us will split up, clear out any Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed in the city. Everyone ready?" Leon asks.

"Ready!" We all say.

Everyone gets set up for the ultimate combat outside. I, however, am not getting ready. I just stand by the Computer Room, looking down at the Heartless Factory. Serah approaches me from behind.

"Big brother, is something wrong?" Serah asks.

I turn looking at Serah. "Nothing's wrong." I look back at the view. "I'm fine."

Serah puts a hand on my back. "It's about Aqua, isn't it?"

I look down, sighing. "I don't know what else to do." I turn facing Serah. "I have searched everywhere. I cannot find a way to free her from the darkness. Not in the between worlds..."

Serah widens her eyes. She can see where I'm going with this. "Patrick...you...you're not saying...you're going into the darkness, are you?"

"What other choice do I have?" I say.

"But you can't do that. It's too dangerous." Serah says. "Sure, you are strong. But...Aqua, she's been trapped in there for fifteen years. If she can't get out, what are the chances you could?" I say nothing, just make a look that means what she says is not going to stop me. "I'm sure there's another way. We'll figure it out. Just promise me, you won't go into the Realm of Darkness. Please..."

I'm still silent, then she makes that pleading look. I haven't seen one of those in years. She use to make those when she's little, it's what she uses to beg people. The quivering lips, the puppy eyes. I'm just hoping she doesn't do the single tear, cause I'm sure it'll look ridiculous as a young adult.

I take a deep sigh. "Fine...I won't enter the dark realm."

Serah smiles then claps her hands. "Excellent."

"Hey. You two coming?" I look past Serah and she turns, to see Leon.

"We're coming." Serah says.

Leon and Serah leaves. I stay behind for a little, taking a deep breath, then move my leave from Ansem's Study.


	39. Darkness Calls

**A/N: Radiant Garden is under sieged. It's pretty epic won't you all agree? It's the Heartless War all over again. Now let's see what's going to happen next.**

World: Radiant Garden

* * *

Ventus, Terra and I are now in the Front Doors with Riku. We are assigned to shut down the door portals all over the city. Once that's done, we all meet up at the Bailey to raid the Dark Depths. The second we're out, we are greeted by Heartless, Unversed and Nobodies.

But they are no match against four Keyblade wielders, and two of them are masters.

As we fight through the enemies, we take the path to the Gardens, then take the metal doorway to the Reactor Area. There lays the portal, in the center of the area. We jump down from the higher ground, taking on the Unversed, Nobodies and Heartless. Riku, however, does not fight. He just goes straight for the portal and begins channeling his dark powers.

"I will close the portal! You must hold off the dark forces." Riku tells us.

It takes about a minute for Riku to do this.

The three of us focuses on protecting Riku. I gather them with Magnega. Terra attacks them while Ventus cases Aeroga then Thundaga. The enemies went down quickly, but more are appearing. I throw a couple of swings then cast Chaotic Fusion. That causes me to enter Star Surge.

The waves of enemies are endless, up until Riku closes the portal. "That's one down!" Riku helps us finish up the mess here, then we continue on.

The Heartless, Unversed and Nobodies are at the only things that stands in our way to the next portal in Central Square. The Aqueduct is crawling with hordes of these creatures. Terra and I fight in vanguard against them while Ventus and Riku attacks from behind. My power surges deeper then I enter Black Maelstrom, due to Duskja.

After clearing the Aqueduct, we move on into the Fountain Court. We encountered Yuffie in this one, so there was much fighting to do here.

"Yuffie is on the scene!" She says.

We now arrive at the Central Square, our home area. Riku begins closing the portal while the rest of us handles the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed. I start off with Transcendence. Terra and Ventus have a bit of trouble reaching the enemies when they're bouncing around.

The first wave dies then the next horde appears. I reach my full power and unleash Black Maelstrom. More of the enemies down and reappear. When Black Maelstrom ends, I continue attacking. The enemies fought hard, I had to use Zero Gravija or Magnega to keep them contained. The Defenders had no effect to the Magnet spell.

The portal closes. "Two down. Only three remains." Riku helps us clean up the enemies around here.

Our next portal target is the one in Purification Facility. We head into the Outer Gardens. The army of the darkness was pretty big. Even since Cloud and Tifa is here fighting the dark forces.

We fight our way through the Outer Gardens, with Cloud and Tifa's help as well. I use my Mushu Charm for the battles in this area. My fiery attacks burn the enemies easily. Ventus attacks using Tornado Strike, Terra does Sonic Blade. I give the enemies a taste of Pyro Storm.

We make it though the Outer Gardens and arrived at the Purification Facility. The portal is right in the center of the platform. Riku goes to close it, while the three of us holds off the Nobodies, Heartless and Unversed.

I do Raging Storm, floating off my feet while three burning tornados swirls around me. I float around, burning the enemies close by. Terra and Ventus fights off, but they get hit, a ton. The Defenders, Berserkers and Magicians were hard hits for them.

Ventus casts Curaga, which heals the three of us at once. When my Raging Storm ends, I unleash Guardian Flare. That finishedsoff the Heartless of this wave, Nobodies and Unversed remains. Terra takes care of the Unversed. Ventus and I handle the Nobodies. When the one wave is down, another horde of dark forces appears.

We hold them off until Riku closes the portal. "Three are closed."

After cleaning up the mess here, we return to the Outer Gardens. There are still enemies roaming around, but Cloud and Tifa got this under control.

We make our way all the way to the Postern. Rinoa now takes care of the enemies in the Central Square. She was able to handle them, but we led a hand anyways. When that's done, we went to the Front Doors, take the nearest route that leads to the Postern.

Riku starts closing the portal. I start off casting Chaotic Fusion. All the enemies staggers from the spell, Terra and Ventus attacks them, making easy prey with them. I enter Star Surge then start attacking like crazy. The next horde appears, Ventus casts Aeroga, Terra Dark Firaga. I cast Magnega, then Blizzarja. I shoot three ice shards at the one Unversed. It sticks on the Archraven, ice pops out of it in all directions, then explodes hurting the enemies nearby. That causes me to enter Elemental Mastery.

We encountered three waves of enemies in here until the portal is closed. Riku helps us defeat the leftovers. "Just one more!"

We went down the Postern, to the Restoration Site. Noel is here, taking care of the Heartless and Unversed. We lend him a hand on clearing the path, up to the point we reach the Bailey.

There, we see Sora, Donald and Goofy holding off the enemies coming in from the Castle Gates Ruins. "Sora? You doing okay?" I ask.

Sora defeats a Large Belly, then turns looking at me. "We're fine! We have everything under control!"

Of course he does. Without anymore hesitation, we head through the Borough. We ran into Leon who is handling the crowd control down here. The Unversed and Nobodies are hard down here, guess they're aware the great Leon is down here. I was able to handle them easily with my Elemental Mastery attacks, then finish them off unleash it's power. After clearing this area, we arrive at the Market Row to take care of the last portal in this city.

The portal lays in the center, Riku begins closing it. Dancers, Darkballs, Dawns, Shadow Screechers and Grandmasters have us surrounded. If they think they have the advantage, they're sadly mistaken. I gather them all with Magnega, then the three of us attacks them. The first wave went down quickly, the second wave gets caught in the magnet, only shortly that's when the Magnega finishes.

Ventus casts Faith, took out half of the enemies. I finish them off with Quakeja, that causes me to enter Critical Impact. A third wave appears, my Gaia-Explosion wipes out most of them.

Riku finally closes the portal. After taking out the enemies, we take the moment to rest. "That's the last of them, isn't it?" Terra asks.

"Yeah. It should be...within the city at least." I say. "We still have to take care of the army within the Dark Depths."

"Right. Let's return to the Bailey. Leon and the others will join us soon enough." Riku says.

* * *

We arrived at the Bailey. Sora was able to take a break, while Donald, Goofy, Terra, Ventus and I holds the line. Sora and Riku just stand back, still having their Keyblades at hand incase anything gets out of hand for us. We now just wait for Leon and the others.

They soon arrive. "How's everything going?" Leon asks.

"Just fine." Sora says.

"We've closed all the portals in the city." Riku say.

Leon nods. "Excellent."

Aerith, the King and Serah joins in on us. "We've evacuated all the citizens. They're now with Kairi in the castle." Serah says.

"Good work." Leon says.

Leon gives us the signal. Terra and I cast an earth spell to block the entrance to the Castle Gates Ruin. The four of us joins with the rest of the gang, Leon stands right in front of the earth barrier.

"Everyone! One year ago, we have witnessed the Heartless War! Now, the forces of darkness have returned to invade our peaceful city! But we will not allow it! In the name of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee: We will not allow the darkness to take away our beloved city again!" Leon turns. He holds his weapon out, extending it with magic. I use my magic to remove the earth barriers, reveal a massive army of Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed at the other side. "ONWARD!"

Leon charges right in. The rest of us follows him from behind, fighting off the enemies as well. Serah and Aerith stay behind us from a safe distance, supporting by healing us when we're injured or weak.

We push through until we arrive at the Castle Gates Ruins. I handle a massive group of the enemies with Waterja, shooting a large orb of water. When it hurts the target group, it bursts into a massive splash. Yuffie and Rinoa handles the enemies from the right, Noel, Tifa and Cloud on the left. Ventus and Terra stays right Leon and I while Sora and Riku cover the rear.

We make our way towards the Crystal Fissure. On the path, Goofy does his Tornado attack to take out the enemies around us. Donald does his Thundaga to clear those up ahead. Their numbers are endless.

"Push forward!" Leon orders.

I give them a taste of Shadow Dash, I use it to rush into the center of the ground. I gather them with Magnega then cast Chaotic Fusion.

That causes me to enter Star Surge.

"Hurry! To the Fissure!" Yuffie says.

We're just at the entrance to the Crystal Fissure, then more enemies appears and have us surrounded. I cast Thundaja while everyone spreads and attacks. Terra takes on the heavy Defenders and Berserkers, Ventus handles the Morning Stars.

Soon, we defeated our enemies and then arrive the Crystal Fissure. We take the moment to rest and recover from the rush. There are enemies coming in, so Sora and I hold them off. After five minutes of resting, we push on to the Great Maw.

The Great Maw is full of countless enemies. Just like the Heartless War.

"We don't have time for this!" I say.

Leon and the gang, including Sora, the king, Ventus, Terra, Donald and Goofy, stands in front of Riku and I. "We'll handle them! Close the portal!" Leon says.

Riku and I nod. While they're fighting off the enemies, we rush right through the army, making our way to the Dark Depths. When we arrive, we see a giant portal at the end of the area. We are both surprise by the size of it. A building could fit in it.

"That's a big portal." I say. "Can you close it, Riku?"

"I'm not sure if I can do it alone." Riku says.

"Don't bother trying." We are both startled. We turn to see Vanitas, leaning beneath the cliff.

Riku is surprised. "What...Sora? Is that you?"

"No. He's not Sora. He's Vanitas. One of the members of the Shadowmoon." I say.

Vanitas smirks then approaches us. "It's been a while, my friend. I take it you have gotten stronger."

"Yeah, I have." I summon my Keyblade. "Want to find out?"

Vanitas chuckles and summons his as well. "Gladly!"

I make the first strike against Vanitas. Vanitas staggers, then he vanishes and does his dive attack. "Too slow!"

I dodge roll, then do Shadow Dash. "No! You're too slow!" I unleash Shadow Dash on him, the final strike knocks him back.

Riku charges at Vanitas, strikes then casts Dark Firaga. Vanitas vanishes then reappears to cast Crawling Fire. "Suffer!" The fire slowly creeps as first, then divides into fast firebolts. Riku appears in front of me and shields me with Dark Shield, the shield takes the bolts. I do Sonic Blade on Vanitas, he disappears on the fourth rush then does his dive attack. Sadly that missed me.

I enter Fever Pitch. Vanitas jumps then dives into the ground. Three times, his dark mist rushes towards me, he jumps, attacks, then dives back in. For the final attack, he unleashes dozens of fire bolts to rain down around him. Riku weakens then I cast Curaga on him. Vanitas strikes at me, then does Dark Rave. His magic cut roams around. I strike at him several times, then do Ars Arcanum.

Riku darks Dark Splicer, vanishing, appearing behind Vanitas, striking swiftly and repeating. Vanitas vanishes and appears midair to do Dark Storm, doing a sweep thunder with dark power. Vanitas channels dark power. "Show me Anguish!" Vanitas charges at us, strikes at us, then does a cross ground, second strike, then jumps and unleashes a X rave at Riku and I.

I heal us with Curaga, then continue attacking until I unleash Fever Pitch. Riku does his Dark Aura ability, while doing that, Vanitas and I at striking at each other. I make the first few strikes, then he vanishes to do his dive attack.

I finish off Vanitas with an Explosion.

Riku and I now stand next to each other, looking at Vanitas, who lays on the ground fading away. Vanitas looks at us, with a smirk. "Well done...you have grown quite strong...Rasputin enjoys a challenge."

"Vanitas. Tell me: How are you still alive? Ventus told me you are the darkness that was inside of him, but he defeated you in order to destroy the χ-blade." I say.

Vanitas was silent at first, then speaks. "Rasputin brought me back to life. Two years after my defeat, he found a fragment of my darkness and use it to resurrect me. He needed an army to defeat Aqua and hunt down the last LeiShen. For a sign of gratitude, I offer him my services."

"You're pathetic you know that?" I ask.

Vanitas just chuckles. "Well now, I have done my part...I think it's time you do yours, if you want to save your little friend."

Vanitas completely fades away. His words just sinks into my head. 'Save my little friend'. I know he's talking about Aqua. She's suffering, probably dying even, in the darkness. I have to do something or I'll lose her forever.

Leon and the others join us in the Dark Depths. "Hey. You guys didn't close the portal?"

Riku and I turn to see them behind us. "We had a...bit of an interference." I say.

"But it's done now. We'll close the portal now." Riku says.

Riku positions himself in front of the portal, and attempts to close it. Dark forces pop right out of them. Leon and the gang holds them off. Riku now struggles to keep up his power.

"It's...too strong! Can't...do it...alone!" Riku says.

Terra stands beside Riku. "I'll help out."

Terra uses his dark powers to help Riku close the power. Together, the portal slowly depletes. "It's closing!"

I stay in the back with Serah, Aerith and the exhausted Noel, Donald, Goofy and Cloud. I gaze at the dark portal, as it's closing, then I look back at Serah, who's busying tending to Cloud. I sign, looking down as I grab my Wayfinder.

"I'm sorry, Serah." I put on a serious face then bolt ahead.

I ran past Riku and Terra, who are surprised to see what I'm doing. "He-hey!"

"Patrick! What are you doing?" Riku shouts.

Serah and the others look ahead. They notice I'm heading towards the dark portal, cutting down the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed in the way.

"Big brother! Don't!" Serah shouts, but she's too late.

I jumped into the darkness.

* * *

Aqua fights off the Heartless in vein. This time, she's covered in cuts on her arms. Burns and bruises on her legs, and her top is ripped revealing her stomach and her eyes are wide open with rage.

Even at her last stand, she strikes hard at the Heartless. The Neoshadow's fights back, but Aqua quickly avoids their attacks and counterstrikes them. Aqua slays the Heartless with a single strike, but doesn't stop moving. Countless Neoshadow's comes at her, and she strikes them down.

Five Neoshadows leaps towards her, all at once. Aqua saw this coming and destroys them with Deep Freeze, freezing the heartless frozen solid and then shatters along with the ice. Aqua pants heavily in rage. She looks out of the corner of her eye, slightly turning her head. She can see a Neoshadow rushing up behind her.

Just when the Heartless is right behind her, Aqua sweep strikes, destroying the Heartless before it reached her. When that Neoshadow was destroyed, more rise out of the ground, surrounding Aqua. But that doesn't stop the girl. Aqua casts Aeroja, unleashing a powerful tornado that sucks the Neoshadows into it and blowing them away in the end.

What Aqua didn't see was that one of the Neoshadow's right behind is still standing, and it strikes her from behind. The blow causes Aqua to fall off the floating path and fall into the darkness. Aqua crashes into each of the paths below and roll falls from each impact, until she starts rolling downhill and then splashes into the purple shadow water.

Nothing comes out of the water. Rasputin, Wingul, Zaela and Izu stands a level above from the little island in the middle of the shadow waters, looking down.

Aqua pops out of the water, gasping for air. She's breast deep in the water, resting her arms on the island. She pants deep and tiresome, then she slowly pulls herself on the island. When she is completely out of the water, she falls on her back, panting and giving rough coughs.

Aqua turns her head, eyes slightly open. Her vision is spinning blurs as she looks at Rasputin and his henchmen. Slowly and painfully tired, Aqua tries to get back on her feet. It takes a minute, even since her attempts to get up failed twice. She now stands, knees bent, holding her Keyblade with two hands, glaring angrily at the Shadowmoon with her bloodshot eyes, taking heavily breaths.

"Now you may finish her!" Rasputin says.

Wingul, Zaela and Izu charges towards Aqua, all at once, and then attacked her, all at once.

Aqua gets knocked down as they beat her up. Swings from Izu's axe, few punches and kicks from Zaela, a couple of cuts from Winguls sword. Had enough, Aqua gets her second wind. She unleashes a powerful nova spell, knocking the henchmen back, and her Keyblade extends in arcane energy. Blade Charge.

Aqua gives Izu a powerful strike, knocking him out. Zaela does a couple of strikes with her fists and feet, but Aqua avoids and blocks them, then she sweep kicks Zaela in the feet knocking her off of them then gives her a hard slam, knocking her back.

Aqua yells in fierce as she charges towards Wingul. Wingul swings his sword, but Aqua docks and strikes him, knocking him back. Aqua takes the moment to recover whatever strength she has left. Thunder strikes and Rasputin appears right behind her in a flash.

He holds out his Keyblade, Aqua turns but is too late. Rasputin strikes her, hard and powerful.

Aqua crushes down to the ground, out cold. Rasputin stands looking down at her. Wingul and the others gathers around Aqua as well, looking down at the unconscious warrior mage.

Rasputin looks up, eyes closed, concentrating. His men notices it and looks at him. "I sense the LeiShen." Rasputin opens his eyes. "He is here. In the darkness itself."

Zaela cracks her knuckles. "Let's finish him."

"No! We stick to the plan." Rasputin says. "Lure him to...It."

Wingul, Izu and Zaela are surprised, gasped even. "It?" Wingul says, shocked. "Are you sure you want to use It? It is too dangerous. Xehanort himself says so."

Rasputin looks at Wingul with a glare. "Lure! Him! To! It!"

Wingul hesitates, then gives a small bow. "Yes...my lord."


	40. Into the Darkness

**A/N: Talk about suicide. Who would be dumb enough to jump into the Realm of Darkness...Wait a minute.**

**I am now in the Realm of Darkness, in search for Aqua. Only what I won't be able to realize is that I'm about to walk into a trap. Wither I realize there's a trap or there isn't one, I wouldn't care. All I care about is Aqua.**

**Okay, I'm starting to feel weird narrating about myself. MY SIS! TAKE OVER THE NARRATING WILL YEA?**

World: Realm of Darkness

* * *

I start walking on the path of Faithless Abyss. (Which is the area we see Aqua walking in when she encounters those Darkside's) As I walk, I take a look at the scenery of the dark realm.

"So...this is the Realm of Darkness...Feels like a lifetime since I was last here." It should be. After all, I was here for mere seconds before Aqua took my place. Now I wonder, where could Aqua possible be? I look up, slightly gasp as I grab my Wayfinder. It glows slightly in light. I feel something...or someone...Yes, I know this feeling. "Aqua...she's here."

I look at the path ahead of me and run towards it.

Meanwhile, Riku is using all of his strength to keep open the dark portal in the Dark Depths. Enemies are still coming out of it. Cloud, Noel and Tifa are taking care of them, protecting Riku, while Leon and the others are having a group meeting.

"Why would he dive into the darkness like that?" Terra asks.

"He's going after Aqua. He's risking to dive into the darkness just to save her." Serah says.

"I don't know what the hell he's thinking, but he's crazy." Leon sighs. "All right. We need a place. Your majesty, you have some experience in the dark realm, right?" Mickey nods. "All right." Leon looks at Sora. "Sora. Can you find Patrick and bring him back?"

"You can count on me." Sora says with pride.

Donald and Goofy bumps in, giving Sora a hug. "We're coming too!" Donald says.

"Uh-huh. Wherever Sora goes, we go!" Goofy says.

Terra and Ventus steps in. "We're in as well. Patrick saved our lives once. It's time we turn in a favor."

Serah steps up. "Me too. I'm really worried about Patrick. I can't let anything bad happen to him."

"Fair enough." Leon says. "You all go in while we hold of the darkness."

"Better hurry!" Everyone turns to look at Riku. "I can't keep this portal open forever! Get moving!"

Without any further hesitation, Sora and the rest of the rescue team enters the dark realm.

The path I take leads me all the way to the Middle Zone of the Realm of Darkness. The presence I feel is just cold and dark. I can't feel Aqua's warm light, but I can still feel her soul through my Wayfinder. I know she's here, but I can't tell where she's at. I'm on my own in the dark.

I start exploring the Middle Zone. So far, the Realm of Darkness is filled with nothing but Shadows and Neoshadows. Even though there's only those two types, their numbers are pretty large. That's to be expected since the Realm of Darkness is their home.

The Middle Zone isn't much, I only encountered two groups of Heartless. All that's left is the edge of a cliff. I look down to see a further path, in the Lower Zone. I decide to jump and move on ahead.

The Lower Zone is quite a height maze. I barely see much ways to go around here. I encounter some dark hole in the middle of the end of the path. When I approach, Heartless constantly appears right out of it. I use my Terra Charm, activating the D-link. I am coated in darkness and my right arm is armed, much like that part of armor Terra wears.

I attack with brutal, dark force. The Heartless goes down nearly instantly from my attacks. When more then seven Neosahdow's appears, I do Chaos Blade. It's similar to Sonic Blade, only instead, when I make the next rush, I vanish and reappear behind the next target, and I do it with the power of darkness.

At the final blast, I destroy the last of the Heartless. The dark hole disappears, then some dark mist orb appears right in front of the cliff. With caution, I approach to the dark orb. "What the..." I give it a slight, gentle touch, next thing I know I'm blasted in the air, screaming, then I crash land on the higher ground. "Ouch!" I sit up. "Dark orbs launches me...good to know."

I get back on my feet and continue on. This whole area is complicated. There are dead ends, and in order to unlock a hidden path, wither it's moving forward or climbing to higher ground, I have to take out all the Heartless each of the dark holes releases.

On my next group of Heartless, I do Ars Solum, which is similar to the Arc Arcanum, only the attacks are heavy, and the extra strikes are only three. I keep attacking until the Heartless are defeated.

I start climbing to higher ground, encountering more and more Heartless. I cast Dark Firaga at the Darkballs. I reach my full power and unleash Dark Impulse. I attack viciously, ending my combos with a large dark hand grab, then I sink into the ground, rush underneath the Neoshadow, and raise unleashing a giant dark hand. There are still a few Darkballs and Neoshadow's left, but I finish them off.

After defeating the Heartless, I move on.

* * *

I arrive at the Upper Zone. The moment I arrive, I stop. The scenery is purple, red and dark silver, and the ground is nothing but floating islands right above the Lower Zone.

I put a hand on my Wayfinder. "Just how close am I to her?"

I look around this zone. There's still no sight of Aqua. But what I do see is a large purple barrier, and on each of the islands, dark swirls. I wonder if the two are connected somehow. I approach to the first swirl, which is on the very island I stand on, and Neoshadows, Darkballs and Ghouls appear. Ghouls are similar to the Neoshadow's, only without the antennas, with mouths with crooked teeth, they're elbows and knees exposed in bones.

It's a pureblood just like the others I have encountered here. I gather them with Magnega, then do Shadow Dash. More heartless appears in their place, only to be shortly captured in the magnet. I enter Spell Weaver, then continue attacking.

When I defeated the Heartless, the dark swirl vanishes, and I see the barrier ahead is weakening, only a bit. Man, everything in the Realm of Darkness is very...puzzling.

I hop from island to island, taking care of the Heartless that appears. Each dark swirl I defeat, the barrier weakens. On the third Swirl, I cast Shining Prism, channeling powerful light magic. The Heartless within ten yards and I are surrounded by walls of light with dozens of light beams bouncing all around. When that was done, I enter Heaven's Light.

My holy attacks taking out the Heartless fast, mostly the Shadows, the Neoshadow's and Darkballs take two strikes. I am untouchable to the Heartless. On the sixth dark swirl, I unleash Heaven's Light, defeating all the Heartless, even the next wave the second they appear.

I defeat all of the Heartless, then the dark barrier vanishes. I can still see it, but it's see through, and passable. I have a bad feeling about this.

I walk into the zone the barrier was blocking. The second I step it, the dark barrier reappears. I'm sealed right inside. "Oh great. Could this get any worse?" Just my luck, dozens of Shadow's appears right in front of me. "I had to jinx it..."

I start of fighting them with Magnega. When they're all gathered, I use Strike Raid on them. I enter Critical Impact, then attack with full force. Everytime the Heartless are defeated, more appears. Instead of just Shadows, Neoshadows starts appearing. Almost instantly, I reach my full power and unleash the Critical Impact.

After that, I use my Rapunzel Charm for the D-linking. I few a couple of attacks, then do Cauterize Radiance. It's similar to the Mega Flare, only does light-fire damage and it also heals me. The Cauterize Radiance instantly kills all the Heartless in the battle, then the very next two waves, destroyed the very second they appear.

More over two dozen Heartless's, Darkballs and Neoshadow's and Ghouls, appears. The Cauterize Radiance makes me reach my full power and I unleash Entanglement. The roots grabs two Neoshadow's and a Darkball, and the golden magic unleashed destroys all the Heartless.

Their numbers are endless. I have defeated hundreds of the Heartless and they're still coming at me. At the tenth wave, the Invisibles starts appearing. I never like them, they're annoying when you take a long time to kill them. I gather them with Magnega, do Ragnarok, enter Spell Weaver.

Heartless dies. More appears. Cast Mega Flare, destroys three waves, enter Elemental Mastery. The fifteenth wave is Invisibles, a Smasher, a pureblood Heartless that's a mix of a Ghoul and a Darkside, only half the size of Darkside. I attack the Heartless viciously, The Invisibles attacks me with their Dark Ritual move, where they vanish leaving their blades behind and the dark circles around me hurts me.

When the damaging is done, I heal myself with Curaga, then continue attacking until I unleash Elemental Mastery. That destroys the Heartless.

The good thing is that no more appears, and the dark barrier vanishes, completely. I'm guessing that's the last wave.

I collapse on one knee then let out an exhausted sigh. "Light! That was crazy." I take the moment to rest and recover my strength, then I move on ahead, into the Valley of Darkness.

The Valley of Darkness looks a lot like a white forest, with eerie stream fogs, purple, red skies. In the darkness, I am being targeted in red vision. The creature in the darkness growls as it stalks me.

I walk to the center of the area. I stop getting a bad feeling. Out of instinct, I turn, Keyblade held out, thinking something was gonna ambush me. But all there was is a small shadow critter. I just look down at it until it leaves, disappearing into the darkness.

I exhale to relax myself. "Stay sharp, Patrick. Got a bad feeling we're being watched."

I move ahead, and that's when I hear it. Growling. I stop, looking around. I see nothing, but I catch the sight of two red eyes. At first, I wonder what it could be, then those red eyes moves around. It's a creature.

The red eyes leaps out of the darkness, revealing nothing but a large shadowy mist. It's charging towards me. I cast a large fireball at it, but it leaps right over me. As it does, I look upon it.

"What the heck is this thing?" I ask.

The mysterious creature lands, then turns to face me.

I charge at the creature then give it Shadow Dash. The creature swipes at me, it knocks me back, but once I recover I cast Ruinja at it.

It roars in agony, then unleashes shadow power. The shadowy mist clears from the red eyed creature, revealing itself to be Dark Hide.

The Dark Hide does claw swipes on me. I block with Holy Shield then do Counter Aura. I enter Star Surge then continue attacking the heartless. Dark Hide leaps side to side to avoid my attacks, then strikes me with its tail whip. I was able to avoid it by doing Dark Roll, melting into the shadows to avoid being hit.

When the Dark Hide is standing still, I do Explosion on it. The Dark Hide leaps around after the Explosion. I chase after it, attacking the creature. I do Falling Stars, leap high in the air, aim head first to the ground, spin while coated in twilight energy, shooting bolts of stars to the ground.

The Dark Hide roars in pain from the attack, then empowers itself. Dark Hide does Illusion Spin, spinning around at high speed, all I see is a magic line of red, blue and green. I stand trapped in the ring of Hunter of the Darkness. It's afterimages charges towards me, but I avoid them in several dark rolls. After the third afterimage, Dark Hide leaps onto me. I block with Dark Shield and then use Counter Aura.

I reach my full power and unleash Star Surge. Dark Hide is pretty feral. I use my Lightning Charm and even the scales. I start with Lightning Strike, then Thunderfall. Dark Hide does its claw swipes on me, I dodge then then do Petal Storm. The creature leaps away from me as I'm spinning in the swirl of rose petals.

Once I'm close, it attacks me with Illusion Slash. The creature and it's afterimages slashes me. I suffer damage on the second half of the attack, then I cast Cura. I attack the Dark Hide before it does another Illusion Spin. I just dark roll the whole time until it unleashes the final leap.

I cast Thundaja on the Heartless, then I reach my full power and defeat it with Zantetsuken.

Dark Hide roars in agony, stumbling around. It's pretty weak and dizzy. It lets out it's final roar, then collapses it's dead body. The Dark Hide shimmers and fades into shadow mists, until it completely vanishes.

I stand in fighting position, panting. Dark Hide was a tough fight. I let out a relief sigh, then my Keyblade vanishes. "Damn...If a creature like that exists in the Realm of Darkness, I can only imagine what Aqua has faced in the last fifteen years."

I stand for a moment, trying to imagine the battles. But I shake that thought out of my head, I remember how Aqua looked when Vanitas showed me Aqua back in the Keyblade Graveyard. Torn. Wounded. Exhausted.

I now look at the path up ahead. "I better hurry up and find her."

* * *

The next area beyond the Valley of Darkness is the Dark Margin.

When I arrive at the dark shores, I stop right in front of the waters waving on the sand. I look side to side, disappointed in sorrow. "I...I don't...understand." I look at the shores ahead. "A dead end? ...This can't be."

I sit down on the sand, knees bent, sighing in depression.

I don't get it. I have looked everywhere. The Dark Margin, here, is the very last zone in the Realm of Darkness. Aqua is no where else to be found in the dark realm. Have I really come all this way for nothing? No...it can't be. I felt it. Her soul. All the way from my Wayfinder.

She's in here...I know it.

I sit here for minutes, thinking. I have no idea what else to do. Where else to go. Where to look.

Out of opinions, I take out the recorded message Aqua made from the Christmas present. I turn it on, it glows and floats in my hand. At first, the message starts, then I command it to skip all the way to the part where Aqua sings for me.

I feel sadden hearing the song. This is all I have left of Aqua. Hearing her voice. Receiving her love.

All wrapped up in a small device.

When the message ends, I put it away, looking down with a deep sigh. Just then, my Wayfinder gives a single, quick glow. That's when I felt it. I look up, then stand up looking all around.

"Aqua?" I don't see her. There's no response either. "Aqua!?"

When I look ahead in the shores, that's when I saw it. A small glimmer of light in the water. It drifts towards me. The closer it gets, the more I can make out what the small piece of light is.

By my feet, I bent down to pick up the Wayfinder. I hold it in front of me, shocked at seeing the blue glass star charm with the Mark of Mastery logo in the center.

It's Aqua's Wayfinder.

"Mother..." I look ahead. "Could it be..." If the Wayfinder is drifting at sea, it could only mean one thing.

I summon my Keyblade, aim it right in front of me. The tip glows and shoots a beam of light, that's when a path is created. A path made of the Wayfinders like back in the Keyblade Graveyard. Once it's made, I run across the sea on this path.

I walk on the path until some mountain is within my sight. There's no land, but a path that swirls around it, going up until it's reaches to the top. The top of the mountain looks like a mount, a large hole with spikes forming as teeth. The purple, red skies curves and swirls into the mountains mouth, like they're being sucked in at extreme slow speed.

This zone is the Chaos Mountain.

I look at the top of this mountain, speechless. "Aqua...is she...in there?"

When I'm done staring, I make my way up the mountain, taking the uphill path that goes around the mountain. I encounter some Heartless on the way. Neoshadow's Invisibles, and Bit Snipers. I attack the Heartless. The Neoshadows and Bit Snipers, I kill them with only one swing each. The Invisibles are a hard fight by comparison.

I grab one of the invisibles, draw my Keyblade back. "Down!" I stab it right in the head, but it's still standing, or floating I should say. "I! Said! DOWN!" I shout with rage, as I toss the Invisible to the other one. When they're both clashed, I leap high and impale my Keyblade on them, destroying the Invisibles.

When they're done, I continue running. as I run, Harpy's appears in the air. They're Pureblood Heartless. They look like Shadow's, but female and with wings for arms and talons for feet.

I don't stop running. I draw my Keyblade back and give them a Wind Raid. While my Keyblade is taking them out, Darkballs and Neoshadows appears on the path in front of me. I create a giant ball of fire and launch it at them, it explodes unleashing Mega Flare.

The Mega Flare destroys the Heartless, but more of them appears further ahead. I jump high, flipping. The Keyblade flies back towards me. I catch it, then dive down in a burst of speed. I crash onto the ground, unleashing Quakeja. That kills the Darkballs and Shadows.

I am halfway up the mountain. I'm getting closer to Aqua.

An Invisible floats right in front of me from the distance. "Out of my way!" I rush towards it and kill it with a single swing.

I run as fast as I can. Bit Snipers now block my path. As I run towards them, I cast a wind orb in my hands. "Don't test me!" I throw the wind spell. It hits the ground beneath the creatures, then forms into a large Tornado. Aeroja. All the Bit Snipers get caught in the vortex, until the forces of the wind destroys them. I run right through the Tornado like I'm immune to it.

I finally reach to the top of the mountain. I stand on the cliff, looking down into the darkness within the mountain. I'm cautious, but brave.

I jump into the mountain until the darkness within shallows me whole. I land on the ground. I can barely see much. The darkness is pretty dense, I can only see five feet all around. A cast a small glimmer of light and hold it out. It shines the darkness within this area.

This place is some kind of battle arena that's 100 yards in diameter. "What...what is this place?" I ask.

I look around, this is a very strange place to be within the Realm of Darkness. As I look around, I am completely caught by surprise. Within my sights, at the other end of the arena, is a certain out cold, wounded, bluenette women.


	41. The Last LeiShen

**A/N: After all these years, I have finally found Aqua. Happy ending...or is it? I may have found her but I am about to face what lays in store set by Rasputin. Have your popcorn ready, cause this is gonna be a doozy.**

World: Realm of Darkness

* * *

I am completely speechless.

I cannot believe my eyes.

Either I'm seeing things or I'm dreaming.

Never, in all my life, would I believe that I would ever find her. Would never be able to see her again. The darkness...no. Rasputin took her away from me, ever since I was a little kid. For fifteen years, I have searched in vein for her and I never found her...until now. And now she is weak, injured, exhausted, covered in cuts, bruises and burnt marks. Probably knocking at death's door.

"Aqua!" I rush to her side. Everything all around me is completely invisible, nonexistence. Which doesn't matter since there's literally nothing all around but darkness.

I fall on my knees when I'm inches from her. I instantly hold her in my arms. She's out cold and I try waking her up. "Aqua! ...Aqua!" There's no response. She's completely out.

I hold her head straight so I can give her some water. I cast a small orb of water in my hand. I gently poor little bit of the water into her mouth. Instead of going into her mouth, it flows around her lips, down her cheek and neck. I slightly gasp seeing this.

Since trying to rehydrate her doesn't work, I set her doing then use my healing spells on her. "Cure!" My healing isn't as strong as Aerith's or Serah's, but I'm only having little choice here. "Cura!" There's no luck in restoring her strength or healing her wounds. All of that healing energy is piling up on her. "Come on! Curaga!"

Just when I begin Curaga, all of that healing energy bursts and bounces back. "Ah!" I was able to flinch back, avoiding all of that unleashed energy. My healing is not working.

"No...this...this can't be." I start diving into despair. "I'm too late." I hold Aqua close, lowering my head close to hers. "It's...it's all my fault."

I quietly sob, holding onto to Aqua for dear life. This whole thing is my fault. I was the one Rasputin is after, but Aqua got dragged into this because of me. She took the fall just because she wanted to protect me. If I wasn't so weak and powerless then, none of this would have happened.

I killed Aqua...

A tear runs down my face and drips onto her cheek. Aqua moans in a quiet tone. I hear it, I break my sobs, looking down at her with a gasp. Her eyebrows twitch as she moans, then speaks in her sleep.

"T...te...er...ra. V...v. Ven...t...tus."

She's alive...But I know I don't have a moment to waste. "Don't worry. I am getting you out of here."

I carry Aqua, I put her on my back, arms dangling over my shoulders, head over my left shoulder, holding onto her by the legs. I start walking back to the wall where I jump from. Only, the second I'm in the center of this arena, I stopped. I feel a presence...a dark, cold presence. It even gives me the shivers.

This isn't the chills. It's someone cold and dark. I know this feeling. I felt it once, before I lost my memories.

I turn around. On the balcony on the other end of the arena. There he is, looking down at us.

"Rasputin!" I say with an anger, bitter tone.

Rasputin smirks and chuckles. "Well. Well...Well. You sure have grown since the last time we met." Rasputin strokes his beard. "And I'm guessing you have toughen up. It takes true bravery to jump into the darkness to save a friend...reminds me of that same event fifteen years ago."

"What did you do to my mother!?" I growl at Rasputin.

"I haven't done anything. The girl brought this upon herself." I know that's a lie. This is clearly his doing. "I gave her the choice to do the right thing and turn you in, but she refused."

"Well, I'm here now! If it's me you really want, then take me and leave Aqua out of it! So why don't you come on down and fight me like a man!" I say.

"Indeed, you are the one I'm after. But there's just one small problem. I'm not going to fight you." Rasputin raises a hand, making moving to get ready to snap. "It. Will." He snaps his fingers.

I wondered what he means, but then all the torches on the wall lights up in blue fires. The large gates on the wall beneath him opens. In the darkness in that prison, red burning eyes are revealed, along with a deep growl. A large claw pops out of the darkness and grabs the ground. The monster pulls itself out of the darkness, revealing itself.

I am completely horrified at the sight of the creature. It's in the same body form of Darkside, only it's redish, with a long tail, with fiery fur on it's torso, wrists and ankles. It's head is beastly with a large snout, sharp teeth, horns. And in its hand is the Chaos RipperX. Which is a χ-blade made out of the Chaos Ripper keyblade (Like the χ-blade Vanitas had in Birth By Sleep would be Kingdom KeyX) And on it's chest, instead of a heart-shaped hole. It's a massive Heartless logo.

"What...the heck...is...that?" I say, speechless.

"Like my little creation? This Heartless is unlike any other. Especially Xehanort's Heartless. This monster is created out of the most powerful people that ever existed." Rasputin says. "I give you: Ragnarok! The most powerful Heartless ever made."

I am speechless, breathless. Completely shocked. I turn my eyes to the weapon on it's hand, and I'm even more shocked. "A χ-blade? ...But...that's impossible. Nobody can wield a χ-blade..." I look down. "Unless..."

Everything hits me:

LeiShen's are powerful Keyblade Wielders.

The Atlantian history states Rasputin doing experiments with the captured LeiShen's.

His attack on my world, turning them all into Heartless.

Putting them all together, I look at Ragnarok. "That...Heartless...could it really...be?"

"Oh, now you get it?" Rasputin chuckles. "Yes. This monster is made out of all of the LeiShen's who were involved on that night. Every single one of them as one, single Heartless. I made a deal with Xehanort that if he helped me get my revenge, I would help him find a way to forge the χ-blade. So I turn all of the LeiShen's into the very monster that stands before you. But the beast was proven to be too dangerous to control, so Xehanort had no choice but to lock it away...well now, I shall use it to destroy the last LeiShen!"

I say nothing. I'm just completely lost at all of this. "I would so enjoy to watch you breath your last breath, but I have important matters to attend too. Ta-ta."

Rasputin disappears into the mists.

Ragnarok raises it's χ-blade, growling. Then it roars with it's eyes turning into fire and charges at me. I act fast by casting a Ruinga at the creature. It unleashes a dense smoke. Ragnarok does a sweep to clear the smoke.

The beast is confused for I am no where in sight. I looks around for me as it softly growls.

At one end of the arena, I leap and start wall-running up to my exit with Aqua on my back. Ragnarok gets a glimpse of me and growls. The beast swings its weapon, sending a blade beam at my direction. The beam hits the wall inches ahead of me, and the impact causes me to fall back into the arena.

I'm out cold for a few, then I get up, causing Aqua to roll off. I look at the girl, then back at the beast. What am I going to do? I need to get Aqua out of here, but I can't escape with the Heartless on my tail.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath. I hold Aqua and move her in the corner. I kneel down and gently stroke her hair. "Ever since you found me, you protected me. Kept me safe from the darkness. Well...now it's my turn." I get back on my feet, turning to the Heartless with a anger look. "This time, I will protect you!" I summon my Keyblade, shout a yell then charge at Ragnarok with a burst of speed.

Ragnarok smashes it's weapon on the ground. I dodge it then strike hard at the Heartless in the head. My attack barely made it stagger at all. The creature is powerful indeed. I leap backwards and cast Firaja midair. The fire bombs makes the beast stumble back and roar. I land on my feet then cast Blizzaja. I enter Spell Weaver, then charge at it to attack.

Ragnarok punches the ground twice. First one hits me then I dark roll the second one. I continue attacking then I cast Chaotic Fusion. Ragnarok does Whirling Assault, doing furious sweeps and slashes then finishes by smashing it's χ-blade on the ground, breaking it and causing spikes to raise. I cast Curaga to heal myself. After healing, I continue attacking then I next do Falling Stars.

Ragnarok does Devil's Breath. It inhales deeply then exhales a fiery breath. I get caught in the fire when Falling Stars ends. When the burning flames ends, I unleash Spell Weaver. Ragnarok does a few swings, but my moving around during Spell Weaver helps me avoid the hits.

When I'm done with Spell Weaver, I use my Genie Charm to activate the D-link. I give Ragnarok a combo round of Thundaja, Waterja then Arcane Rain. For Arcane Rain, I channel arcane power, dozens of Keyblades appears in the air, coated in Arcane energy, and using my telekinesis, I launch them at the Heartless.

Ragnarok does Death Throes. It coats itself in flames then spins, launching dozens of flaming bolts all around leaving a fiery patch on the ground they touch. I keep my distance and avoid the flames, constantly casting magic spells against the Heartless.

After the thirtieth, the last three, flaming bolts, the Heartless ends its ability. That's when I charge in and attack swiftly at the Heartless. Up until I unleash Three Wishes. Ragnarok roars in agony from the Three Wishes. It does Hell's Abyss, impaling it's χ-blade into the ground. The entire ground of the Arena starts cracking.

I continue attacking Ragnarok while it's charging power. A few hits, casting Sparkja, doing Shadow Dash, entering Star Surge. Attacking it then doing Hurricane Flare then casting Quakeja. Ragnarok unleashes Hell's Abyss, causing fire to blast out of the cracks, which is everywhere. Not even my dark roll can help me avoid the attack.

I heal myself with Curaga, then continue attacking until I enter Elemental Mastery. I strike at Ragnarok. The Heartless does its punches, then does it's Devil's Breath ability. I give him a taste of Shadow Dash. "Too Slow!" I was able to avoid the fiery breath with my dark sonics. After that, I do Gaia-Explosion then unleash Elemental Mastery.

It's a showdown between me and Ragnarok. Striking at each other. Ragnarok strikes, but I block the attack, holding it back. I struggle to hold the attack, the beast is strong. I look up at Ragnarok while it looks down at me snarling.

Everything around me seems to have frozen, as I enter a thousand yard stare with a shocked expression. Beyond that beastly face and monstrous growl, I can hear their cry for help.

'Help us! Please!'

'It hurts so much!'

'Save us!'

'The pain...'

'Please...free us.'

"They...they're suffering." I say without breath.

I must have dropped my guard, cause Ragnarok strikes at me with an uppercut. That sends me flying and I crash against the wall. I fall to the ground, beaten down and coughing. Ragnarok approaches before me, growling. I look up to see it's raising its χ-blade at be.

I makes the strike, only midway, a flash of light blasts the beast from behind and it roars in pain. I'm confused, then I look to see it's Mickey shooting the blast of light. Ragnarok growls as it turns. It swings it's weapon at Mickey, but he parries it and lands on the ground.

"Mickey!" I say.

Rangarok rushes in front of Mickey. It strikes, only to have it blocked when Goofy jumps in and blocks the attack with his shield. Then powerful lightning strikes the Heartless, caused by Donald.

"Donald? Goofy?" I look ahead to see Sora leaping towards Ragnarok. He gives the heartless a powerful strike. "Sora?"

The four of them occupy the Heartless. "Big brother!" I turn to see Serah rushing towards me, with Ventus and Terra behind her. Serah kneels down and does some healing on me. "What were you thinking? Diving into the Realm of Darkness?"

When she's done with her healing, she helps me stand on my feet. "I had no other choice, Serah. You know that."

Serah doesn't say anything Terra looks to the side. "Aqua!" He runs. Ventus is on alert hearing that name, then he follows Terra. Serah and I follow them. Terra is kneeling with Aqua in his arms, Ventus is bent down looking at her. "Aqua. Wake up! ...Aqua!"

"It's no use." Terra and Ventus looks at me. "She's gravely injured. She's probably mostly dead by now."

Ventus and Terra are horrified to hear that. "We need to get her out of here!" Ventus says.

"You think I haven't tried?" I look back at the battle of Ragnarok. "That beast is too fast. I can't even outrun it."

"Well we have to do something!" Terra says.

"Right. We have to fight it." I turn to Serah. "Serah. Stay with Aqua. Do whatever you can to keep her alive."

Serah puts on a serious face then nods.

Meanwhile, in Radiant Garden, Leon and the gang are still fighting off the Heartless in the Dark Depths. Riku is struggling to keep the portal open. At some point, he suffers major pain and starts to lose control. He keeps his stand, but the portal starts depleting, very slowly.

"Come! On Sora! Hurry up!" He yells in his struggle.

Our battle against Ragnarok is hard. Mickey distracts its vision while Goofy blocks the attacks Donald attacks within range with his magic. Sora, Ventus, Terra and I attack from the sides and the back. Ragnarok strikes its χ-blade around at us. Whenever it does, we block. Ventus was too weak, so Terra and I help him block the attack together.

The beast suffers major damage from each of us, but it's not enough to defeat it. On it's weaken state, the Heartless grows stronger. The Heartless roars so loud and fierce, it shacks the very world. The beast is coated in Hell flames. It's now stronger, faster, more powerful then before.

Ragnarok rushes towards Mickey and strikes him. Mickey was sent flying against the wall. "Mickey!" I shout.

Donald and Goofy are in quite a shock to see that. "Your majesty!" They both shout.

Ragnarok grabs Goofy. He yells in worry, that earns Donald's attention. Ragnarok holds Goofy in his face. "Put him down!" I say, striking the beast by the feet. Ragnarok looks down growling. It kicks me, sending me flying until I hit the wall.

Ragnarok pulls Goofy back, aiming at Donald. Donald can see what's gonna happen next. "Uh-oh." Ragnarok smashes Goofy on Donald. they both lay on the ground dazed. Ragnarok rests the tip of its χ-blade behind them then swings it, sending them to Mickey.

I get on my hand and knees, seeing the situation. Sora leaps towards Ragnarok from behind, but the beast senses him. He makes a swift sweep strike. That parries Sora's attack, causing him to stagger midair, then Ragnarok punches him.

Sora crashes against the wall and falls. "Sora!" I shout. Ragnarok looks down at Terra and Ventus. Ventus seems nervous. Terra is armed, defending himself. Ragnarok inhales deeply then does it's Devil's Breath on them. Terra stands his ground, resisting the burning flames. Ventus yells in pain as the breath knocks him back. Ragnarok ends its ability then kicks Terra back. "Terra! Ventus!"

This is horrible. But it gets worse when the beast turns to Serah, who's trying to heal Aqua. Ragnarok draws it's χ-blade over its head, backhanded aiming at the ground, then impales it, sending a wave of spikes at her direction. "SERAH!"

Serah looks up hearing my call, but it's too late. The rave of earth knocks her and Aqua in the air. They both crash land on the front line of the rest of the rescue party. "No..." I whisper.

The group starts to recover from their attacks. Ragnarok approaches before them. They all look up to see the Heartless is in front of them. Ragnarok draws its χ-blade back, roars fierce as it charges then becomes enhanced in flames. It makes the strike, but was shortly interrupted by a hard blast of twilight energy from the back.

Ragnarok turns, to see me standing in place, in a fit of rage. "You took my people! My mother! My friends! The ones that I love!" I start to become coated in a fusion of light and dark auras. "Do you have ANY idea how THAT makes me FEEL!?"

Ragnarok snarls as it gazes down at me. I stand glaring up at the monster as my anger burns. Everyone else is horrified, especially Terra. This reminds him too much of his own and master Eraqus's burning anger in darkness and light.

Overwhelmed, I unleash a blast of twilight energy, yelling in rage. I even grow two wings. A white one on the right and a black one on the left. I have entered a brand new Command Style. Not a regular. Not an advanced. But an...no, the ultimate Command Style.

Twilight's Dawn.

Everyone shouts at me.

"Patrick!" Serah shouts.

"No!" Ventus shouts.

"Don't do it!" Terra shouts.

"Give me back MY FAMILY!" I yell.

Ragnarok roars then charges towards me. I charge as well, in a sonicboom. When we're face to face, Ragnarok strikes, but I block the attack using the Keyblade with both hands. I yell as I let go on my right hand, pulling back like I'm preparing a punch. When I do, a glimmer of light appears in my hand, growing stronger, longer, into the length and shape of a blade.

I make my strike, and it was hard. Hard enough to cause Ragnarok to get knocked back. Serah and the others are speechless, with shocked expressions, at what they are seeing.

I stand, attack positioned, with two Keyblades: The Black Angel on my left hand, and my father's Keyblade, the Royal Heart, on my main.

Ragnarok recovers from the impact. He smashes it's χ-blade down at me, but I block using both weapons. The impact causes a force of wind to blow, then I repel the weapon, causing the Heartless to stumble back. While it's staggering, I unleash my Command Style ability: Starburst Stream. I attack with heavy swings, one strike, then two strikes together, then another two in a sweep, uppercut with my off-hand Keyblade, then I finish the ability with two X strikes, downcut first then uppercut second.

Ragnarok roars in agony from the attacks. Everyone could not believe their eyes at what they are seeing. "N...no way." Sora says.

"What is this power?" Terra asks.

I next do Soulstoke Spin. I attach my two Keyblades together by the ends of their hilts, like how I would do for the Razor Gale in the Lightning D-link, only this time it's coated in twilight energy, then I spin the two Keyblades like a staff as I strike the Heartless.

Mickey gets a good look at my fighting styles. "That power...could he really be...?"

As I attack Ragnarok, it manages to make a couple of hits on me. A swing from it's Keyblade then a punch in the stomach. I lost my grip on the Keyblades, then quickly regain them.

_'Faster!' _I thought.

I attack Ragnarok, four times through the Keyblades then kicking it hard twice, then I cast Dark Radiance. I smash the ground with both of my weapons, causing hundreds of tiny purple gems to raise. I raise my Keyblades, with the tips touching in the form of an upside down V, and a small orb of light shines, shooting five beams. When the beams touches a gem, dark beams goes directly at Ragnarok.

Shortly when that's done, I do Elemental Cross. It's very similar to Cloud's Cross-slash, but the strikes are in:

First fire with main

Second water in off

Third earth in main

Fourth wind in off

Then Earth and Arcane with both in an X slash. I continue attacking Ragnarok. The beast still stands, and attacks me as well. '_Even FASTER_!'

At the speed of sound, I attack the Heartless with a fifty-hit combo. That's when I reach my full power and unleash Twilight's Dawn.

I am overwhelming in twilight energy. I hold my two Keyblades, in the form of an X, grab the hilts that are touching. I raise them, unleashing a burst of twilight energy as I shout. The two Keyblades starts forging, with magic, into a χ-blade.

At the speed of light, I rush towards Ragnarok, and split into two forms. One of light and one of darkness. My light form rapidly rushes towards Ragnarok, just like Riku's Dark Aura but with light energy instead of dark, while the dark form does its attacks in a mix of Dark Splicer and Shadow Dash. After a while of this, the two forms soars high, spinning as we merge back into one.

I hold my χ-blade aiming down as I dive at high speed. I unleash a massive explosion of twilight energy when I slam to the ground. That is the end of the Twilight Dawn, but I still remain in form.

Ragnarok is knocked back from the impact, crashes against the wall even. But the Heartless quickly recovers. It growls then roars as it charges. I rush towards it at a burst of speed. We both draw our χ-blades back. Serah and the others are shouting in horror as they watch this sudden death assault.

At the exact same time, we both strike with all of our power and strength.

We now stand, frozen in place, back to back. Serah and the others are all watching, eyes frozen as us, expecting for one of us to fall. But after a minute, a χ-blade drops.

Ragnaroks legs shakes, then it collapses onto its knees, then elbow and hand, then it's body falls dead.

"Is it...over?" I ask in a breathless whisper.

I turn around, looking at Ragnarok. The Heartless becomes coated in mists of darkness, soon to be engulfed in a dome of darkness. Then a glimmer of light appears on the top of the darkness as a giant heart is released.

The darkness fades until there is nothing left. Still shocked, everyone else looks at up. I just look up, staring at the heart that's no longer there.

My Twilight's Dawn form ends, the wings vanish and the magic that holds my two Keyblades together fades. My strength is suddenly drained. I drop the keyblades, they vanish, then I fall back.

My whole world turns dark.


	42. Hopeless

**A/N: We can all agree that last chapter was pretty awesome, isn't it? Well, those of you may have realized there was Sword Art Online with that event, then you are correct. I very much as myself to be like Kirito, we are alike in many ways.**

World: Radiant Garden

* * *

I slowly start to return to my senses. During my unconscious time, there was nothing but darkness. No dream, no light, no anything. I wonder what happened?

I start to regain my hearing. I hear some fainted beeping, like from a machine or something. Not only that, I hear voices too.

"How is she doing?" One voice asks.

"She's barely improving. The doctors had to put her through surgery." Another voice says.

Her? Surgery? I hope they're not talking about Aqua. "Surgery? It must be a serious condition."

I open my eyes, slowly. It's very bright, very blurry. My eyes take a moment to adjust. I see I'm in some white room. "What surprises me more is his attack on that Heartless. What is up with that?" A voice that clearly sounds like Sora says.

I give a weak moan. I look ahead to see Sora, Terra, Ventus, Riku, Kairi and Mickey having a conversation. They all look at me, surprised. "He's awake!" Everyone gathers around me. I try to sit up, but my strength is still pretty weak. I end up getting help from Kairi when she grabs my hands and pulls me into a sitting position.

I notice that I am shirtless with bandages wrapped around my stomach, and on my left side, the bandages are stained with blood. I must have gotten badly injured. I look past the group at the window, to see I am back at the peaceful city of Radiant Garden.

"Aqua is safe." I look at Terra as he speaks. "She's in the intense care unit."

I look down. "That doesn't really sound too good to me."

"Well, you should really worry about yourself. You pretty much died back there." Ventus says.

I look at him shocked. "I...died?" He knows. "I does explain the agony I'm feeling." I put a hand on my wounded side of my stomach. "But...how am I alive?"

To answer my question, Sora takes out an object and rests it on the side of my bed. I look at it, and I'm surprised. It's the revival item I got from Father Scourge.

[Flashback]

I stand in the center of the arena, looking up at the giant heart. When it's gone, my Twilight's Dawn form ends, Keyblades vanishes, then I fall dead on the ground.

"BIG BROTHER!" Serah abandons Aqua and rushes to me side. Sora, Mickey, Terra and Ventus joins in as well. Serah is on my side. She tries healing my, but it fails. Then she checks my pulse...Nothing.

"He's not even breathing." Terra says.

"He's...dead?" Serah asks, sadden. Everyone seems depressed, but not Sora. He was sadden at first then suddenly remembers something. He reaches into his pocket. "What is it, Sora?"

Sora takes out the revival item. "Just hang on a minute."

Sora places the item on me then turns it on. It activates and sends a healing pulse all over my body. The second I'm coated in the light, it fades, then I let out a sharp groan, followed by breathing.

[Flashback ends]

"You told me you use it on the next person who dies...so that's what I did." Sora says.

Hearing that, I suddenly remembered that night on Christmas.

_'Do me a favor, Sora and use it on the next person who dies before your eyes.'_

"As soon as you were brought back to life, we rushed right out of the Realm of Darkness." Terra says.

Riku crosses his arms, looking upset. "Talk about neck of time. The portal was just about to collapse by the time you guys arrived."

"Well, we made it out, didn't we?" Terra says.

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"Only two days. It was pretty intense, Serah could barely left your side." Sora says.

"Took a lot of convincing...and some fighting, but we manage to get her home to rest." Terra says.

We say nothing for a while, then Sora speaks. "Anyways, what was that?"

I look at Sora. I know what he's talking about. "Do I have to say?"

"Sure. I've never seen anything like that. I mean, sure you're strong and powerful, but that...that was a whole new level." Sora says.

Everyone else is looking at me, telling me to answer. I know I can't hide it from them, so I explain. "You guys know how I've forgotten about my past? Well...I remember everything now." They all look surprise to hear that. "A few days ago, Naminé told me I had this powerful darkness inside of me, that's preventing me from remembering my lost memories. So...I went to Castle Oblivion under her instructions and regain my memories." I face everyone. "I...am a LeiShen."

Now they are shocked, they gasped even. "What? No way!" Riku says.

Mickey on the other hand doesn't look too surprised. "I knew it. I figured you were the LeiShen, the moment I saw you fought that Heartless."

"But wait...if you're the LeiShen...then does that mean?" Terra asks.

"That's right...I am the last one you all heard from the stories." I say.

"But...how did you survive?" Ventus asks.

I turn my attention to Mickey. "Because of Mickey...When I was born, he bestowed a gift upon me. If I'm ever in trouble, the light will guide me to the light of another." I turn to Terra and Ventus. "That's how I end up in the Land of Departure."

"I see...So, what happened to your people?" Terra asks.

"Rasputin is what happened...He betrayed us all." I say. "He attacked my home, he turned the LeiShen's into..." I stop talking, it's hard to say what happens next. My expression softens then I look down. "Into...that Heartless we...took out."

Everyone else now makes regretful expressions. "Oh..." Terra nervous rubs the back on his head. "S-sorry...about that man."

I say nothing else, neither does anyone else. The silence is pretty awkward. "Uh...maybe we should...let him rest up." Riku suggests.

"Good idea. We should...probably go check on Aqua." Ventus says.

Ventus and Terra leaves. "Yeah...maybe I should back to Merlins, let Serah know Patrick is awake." Sora says.

Sora, Riku, Kairi and Mickey leaves. When they're out the door, Kairi stops. She looks back at me, with the expression of sorrow and regret, then walks out the door. I remain seated on my hospital bed, drowning in despair.

My people...they were calling for help. To be freed from the torment Rasputin gave them. But all I did was end their lives.

"What have I done?" I ask myself, as tears slide down my face, and one of them drips onto the back of my hand.

* * *

Five days have passed since I waken. Nothing has gotten any better since then.

I was released from the hospital on the second day, but I was ordered to stay in bed for a week. It doesn't matter, cause I have given up on life. I destroyed my own people, my real family. And what's worse: Aqua has fallen into a deep coma The doctors have done everything they can to restore her, but they are still uncertain that she will ever revive.

Why the hell did Sora had to waste that revival item on me?

There is a knock on the door. I make not the slightest movement from it. Serah slowly opens the door, looking in. "Hey, big bro." Her tone is calm and gentle, trying to cheer me up. Serah walks right in, with a bowl of seafood chowder, with half a loaf of bread on the side. She sets it on the table next to my bed. "I brought you something to eat...it's your favorite."

Is that really suppose to cheer me up? Serah notices I remain unchanged. She sighs and stands beside me, giving me a gentle stroke on the arm. "Hey, the hospital said Aqua is doing a better...just a little. She's breathing normally and her heart rate is starting to raise."

I still say nothing, neither does Serah. When she's done, she gets up and leaves, only to stop halfway when she hears some crashing. Serah turns, noticing the table is tipped, the bowl and tray are on the ground and the food is spilled. My arm is reached out.

She knows I tipped it over on purpose. "Just...stop it." I say, in remorse.

Serah gasps slightly, then she bends down to pick up the tray and bowl. "Oh, Patrick. If you keep doing this, we'll run out of food." Serah stands back up. "I'll go make you some more."

Serah leaves. She heads back downstairs. She walks by the living room where Leon and the others are at. Cloud, Aerith, Noel, Tifa and Rinoa are playing canasta. Yuffie is just watching them, disappointed. Since that other day when she was caught cheating in poker, she's been banned from playing gambling games of any kind.

Leon notices Serah walking by with the spilled tray. "Patrick refusing to eat again?"

Serah nods. "I don't understand what's gotten into him."

"Well, you have to remember. He just got his memories back, which turn out to be about losing his home and family." Riku says.

"Yeah, let's not also forget he destroyed his own people who were in the form of the giant Heartless." Leon adds.

"I get how that feels...I still remember that day when I stroke down the master." Terra says with regret.

"Yeah...I guess you're right, Leon." Serah says. "And Aqua being in a coma isn't helping his condition either."

"It's hard for all of us." Ventus says. "Let's just give Patrick some space, he'll be fine."

Serah understands and decides to give me my space. Up until tonight. While everyone is asleep, and Ventus and Terra are visiting the hospital, Serah took a shower and then was heading to bed, only as she's walking down the hall, she was passing by my room. As usual, the door is closed.

Right now, Serah is just in a pink robe, her hair all loose inside of the side ponytail. She knocks on the door. "Big brother? ...You still awake?" She asks.

There was no answer. After waiting enough, she slightly opens the door, shining a bit of light in the dark room. She takes a peek to see I am awake, still sitting on my bed in remorse. Serah lets herself in, closing the door behind her. "The shower is ready." She says.

I'm still silent, looking down in woe. Serah slowly approaches to me. "I'm...I'm worried about you, big brother. Everyone else is."

"Just leave me alone." I whisper.

Serah looks worried. She's trying to find the right words, but doesn't know what to say. "Big brother..." Serah sits on the side of the bed. "I know everything seems...bad, but it's going to get better. Trust me." I'm still silence as the grave. Serah puts a hand on my shoulder. "Just...believe in the light, and everything will-"

Serah was instantly interrupted when I suddenly grab her wrist, with a hard grip. Serah is astonished, especially when my grip is starting to hurt. My sorrow starts boiling into anger. I even look up with raging eyes, even Serah is starts to worry. "I...said..." I slowly start getting up off the bed. "Leave! Me!" I give Serah's wrist a twist, causing her to yelp. "ALONE!" That's when I use all my strength and toss her out the window, breaking through the glass.

Ventus and Terra are walking on the streets, hearing back to Merlin's house. They just finish their visit with Aqua, now having a conversation. All of that suddenly stopped when Serah crashes to the ground, followed by shattered glass. Luckily none of them landed on her.

Terra and Ventus hurries to her side, helping her up. "Serah? You okay?" Terra asks.

"What happened?" Ventus asks.

Serah moans a little. "It's...big brother. He..."

The conversation cut short when I jump out the window, two Keyblades at hand. They look up to see me preforming a dive attack. Terra and Ventus quickly helps Serah to her feet and move out of the way before I landed, breaking the very ground.

They all look at me, shocked, couldn't believe what they are seeing. I am panting heavily in rage, looking down. When I face them, they see my eyes are bloody red with veins popping out around the sockets, gritting teeth, growling. Serah makes a run for it then I chase after her.

Ventus and Terra didn't do anything, just have their eyes glued on the event. That's when Leon, Yuffie and Sora comes out.

"What happened?" Leon asks.

Terra and Ventus turns to face Leon. "It's Patrick. He started attacking Serah. He's gone completely mad."

Leon makes a run for it. "Come on!"

Serah makes a run through the gardens, going higher up, heading towards the front doors. Instead of taking the stairs, I run up the walls, up to the next level. That's where I catch her. Serah stops, only to dodge a couple of swings I throw at her. Serah could barely keep up, she ends up getting a cut on her cheek and collapsing.

Serah feels her cheek, and is surprised to find blood on it. She turns, looking up at me as I'm glaring down at her. "Bi-big brother! Please! Calm down!" Serah begs.

I point my Royal Heart Keyblade at Serah. "Shut up! Just shut up!" I say in a growling tone. "Don't you see...there's nothing left! NOTHING!" My hands shake, even the Keyblade trembles. "Don't try to fill my head with false hope!"

"But, there is hope. Aqua is still alive." Serah says.

I give her a shot look. "SHE'S DEAD!" Serah flinches back hearing me yell that. "Open your eyes! She is dead! She's never coming back!"

"B-but...Big brother-" Serah is shortly interrupted.

"I am not your brother...Stop calling me that!" I breath angrily, then I draw my Keyblade back. "Just...SHUT UP!"

Serah cowers, expecting a blow. But when nothing comes, she sees that my attack is stopped by Cloud. I give Cloud a mean look. "Out of my way!" I give Cloud swift strikes with my Keyblades he parries each of them.

Riku rushes to Serah's side and helps her up. "Come on, Serah. Let's go."

I fight my way through Cloud, but he stands his ground, getting in my way. Our weapons clash. Since my Keyblades do a X form block, I was able to disarm Cloud, then knock him out of the way. Shortly afterwards, I chase after Serah.

The chase goes all the way into the Postern. Serah and Riku are still on the run while I get ambushed by Leon, Noel and Tifa. Tifa holds me back, like a bear hug. "Patrick! Calm down! We don't want to hurt you. We just want to help." Tifa says.

Noel and Leon stands in front of me, positioned to stop incase I break free. I struggle in Tifa's arms, shouting. "Patrick! It's us. Calm down. It's us..." Noel says.

I stomp on Tifa's foot, which causes her to yell and loosen her grip. I give Tifa are kick in the feet, sweep kick to knock her off her feet, then I grab her by the collar of her shirt and toss her at Noel. It's now just me and Leon. He readys his sword for a fight. He swings, but I dodge then punch him hard, right in the chin. That knocks him out like a light.

I continue chasing after Serah. At the Restoration Site, I caught Riku and Serah within my sights, but was cut off when Terra and Ventus. They are both armed to attack. "Don't do this, Patrick. I don't want to hurt you." Terra says.

I growl, then I start attacking Ventus. Jab him in the stomach, knee smash in the head, sweep him off his feet then kick him towards Terra. With them out of the way, I run into the Bailey. Just when I'm at the entrance, a cloud smoke appears, revealing Merlin.

"Not so fast, young man." Merlin holds out his wand. "I'll have you know I am a powerful sorcerer. I've studied hundreds of ancient mastery spells, performed the highest levels of magic and I also make a killer soufflé. Trust me, you don't want to mess with me."

I just give a look that says 'Yeah right'. I grab Merlin, turn him around, doing some finger flicks on his spine, that's when it makes a loud crack. "Oh! My back!" Merlin bends down, hands on his back. "Confound it! It's the Spellweaver War all over again!" Then I move on ahead.

Riku and Serah stops at the top of the stairs. "Did we lose him?" Riku asks.

For an answer, I run up the wall and appear in front of them. "I'm guess we didn't." Serah says.

I fixate on Serah, charge at her with a yell. I strike, but I didn't hit Serah, but some barrier. I turn to see Riku is channeling his Dark Shield spell. "Don't test me, Patrick." Riku says.

In frustration, I attack the barrier with all of my remaining strength. Riku tries his hardest to keep his guard up, meanwhile Serah makes a run for it, but starts climbing up the Bailey wall.

I start attacking faster and faster, until Riku can barely see my attacks. His barrier starts cracking from my hits, even Riku struggles to keep his barrier up. For my final strike, I attack with the two Keyblades at the same time, shattering the barrier and causing Riku to collapse. I start running up the wall.

Serah makes it to the top, on the city wall. She stops by the edge, on the outside side of the wall, to catch her breath. She's on alert when she hears my yell. I jump high when I made it to the top, then do a dive attack. Serah rolls out of the way and I end up landing on the ground, inches from Serah.

My impact causes the wall to crack, on the very ground we stand on, then it breaks and collapses, taking Serah and me with it.

We now lay out cold on the Castle Gates Ruins. Serah is the first to awake. When she tries to get up, searing pain runs through her right arm. "Ah! ...My arm." She looks at it, there's no blood, but it's pretty bruised. A broken arm.

Serah looks to find me. She crawls over towards me, when she's close, that's when I start to regain conscious. She's right next to me, helping me get up with her good arm. The second I get a look at Serah, and that calm smile, I shove her away in frustration.

I try standing up, but I'm coated in pain, and having a loss of energy as well. I'm on my knees, grabing my Keyblades. Serah just stands there watching me. Leon and the others catch up. They stand behind Serah, ready to fight, but Serah tells them to stand down.

I'm back on my feet, I'm panting in exhaustion, but still overwhelming in despair and rage, mostly despair. I stumble towards Serah. She doesn't run, just stands and watches with concern. Slowly, I draw my right Keyblade back, then give a slow swing, like I'm not even trying to fight. Serah dodges easily just by taking a step back.

My movements are slow and lacking energy and style. I give another swing with my left keyblade, it's the same as the previous one. I give another swing, drawing back over my shoulder, but Serah grabs my wrist doing the swing, stopping it. I'm surprised to see this, then I look at Serah. She looks sadden, worried. I draw back my left Keyblade. She doesn't look worried, even though she can't stop that attack with her broken arm.

My left arm shakes, but doesn't swing. Tears are pouring out of my eyes, running down my face in three different streams. Finally, I just drop my left Keyblade, then the right one afterwards. I collapse on my knees, so does Serah, and I fall into her arm, sobbing uncontrollably.

* * *

After that night, I was taken back to Merlin's to rest. Since then, Serah was put in the hospital to get her arm checked out. It's morning and she is now ready to leave. Tifa, Yuffie escorts her through the hallway. Serah has her arm casted and in a sling. There's also a square bandage on her cheek to cover the cut.

"You feeling okay?" Yuffie asks.

"I'm fine, the doctor says it should be a one month mend at least." Serah says.

"That's going to be a long recovery." Tifa says.

Just as they're walking, they stop moving, caught by surprise that I'm walking down the hall at their direction. This time I'm fully dressed. Yuffie takes out his shuriken and Tifa readies to fight.

I look up, seeing the girls in front of me, ready to fight. I sigh, raising a hand in front telling them to stop. "There's no need. I'm not here to tassel." I say. The girls, mostly Yuffie and Tifa, seem confused, then I walk past them.

They all look back at me as I walk away. "What was that about?" Tifa asks.

"Came to his senses, maybe?" Yuffie asks.

Serah doesn't think so. She watches me until I enter a hospital room, that's when she knows what could be going on. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

Serah walks into the room I was in. There, she sees Aqua lay on the bed, in her coma with a breath mask. I'm sitting on the chair next to the bed, watching her sleep with the sorrow expression.

Serah approaches me. When she's right next, she puts a hand on my back. "Hey...Everything's going to be okay."

"Leave me alone." I say, looking down in sorrow.

Serah sighs then sits. "I can't do that, and you know it. I'm really worried about you, Patrick. You are usually never this cold."

I look at Serah a little nervous then grab the coat and wrap it further around me. "It's winter and I've...been having the chills lately, okay?"

Serah giggles. "Not that, silly. I mean the way you're behaving. It's unlike you, and it's making me worry."

"Well, then stop worrying about me." I look back at Aqua. "I'm...fine."

"Obviously, you're not." Serah says. "You're hurting, and I want to help you. But I can't unless you let me."

I'm silent for a while. She's right. Serah does want to help, and she can only do that unless I let her. "It's just...I have forgotten everything about my old life...and when I finally remember it, after all these years, it's all gone. To make matters worse, my people and family were turned into that giant Heartless...that I destroyed." I look down in shame. "I'm a monster..."

Serah shook her head. "That is not true. You have done nothing wrong. Patrick, do you remember what happened to Sora back in Hollow Bastion?" I remember, he turned into a Heartless. Sacrificing himself to save Kairi and the other princesses. "He turned into a Heartless once, but look at him now. He's still the same guy he was when we found him two years ago." Serah grabs my hand. "If that can happen to Sora, then I'm sure it'll happen to the other LeiShen's. You didn't kill them...you saved them."

I'm a bit shocked to hear that. "You mean...you believe that'll return one day?"

Serah smiles. "I know they will."

"Wow...I never really thought of it that way." I look back at Aqua. "But...Aqua..."

"What happened to her is not your fault. Even if it is, it doesn't matter. She's safe now, and she will wake up one day. It might just wake a while. Days, weeks maybe. All that matters is she will return." I say nothing else, just trying to take it all in. Serah moves her hand to my cheek and turn my head to face her. "Never give up, faith. Just remember: Always believe in the light."

"No matter what happens...never forsake it." I finish saying. Serah nods. I start feeling a bit warm inside, then I smile.

Serah smiles as well. "Hey, you smiled."

"Yeah...I guess I am. Maybe you're right..." I pull Serah into a hug, which surprises her. "Thanks, Serah.. I needed to hear that." Serah hugs me back with her good arm. After a while, I disband the hug, then I gently place my fingers on her bandaged cheek. "I'm...I'm sorry that I attacked you. And I'm also sorry..." I look away with guilt. "About what I said back there."

Serah shook her head. "No, you don't need to apologize. You weren't in the right mind." I look at Serah hearing that. "Besides, it's like you said: We're family."

I look confused. "Really? ...When did I say that?"

"Oh, you didn't exactly. But you did call us family before to defeated that heartless." Serah says. That's right, before I attacked the creature, I did shout 'Give me back MY FAMILY!'. "We should head back to Merlins, I'm sure everyone is worried about you."

"You go on ahead, I'm jsut stay here a little longer." I say.

Serah nods. "Okay. Don't stay too long."

Serah gets up then leaves the room. When she's gone, I look back at Aqua, standing up to stand right beside her. I take our her Wayfinder from my pocket. I close it in my hands, looking back at Aqua.

"I swear, Aqua...I will make Rasputin pay for this...for everything." I take Aqua's hand, place the Wayfinder on it, then close it. "You can rest now."

I gently place her hand back on the bed, then I leave without saying another word.


	43. Keyblade War

**A/N: Pretty dramatic that last chapter wasn't it? But it also had a sweet ending. Serah is one of my favorites in Final Fantasy XIII. A pretty girl with a kind heart. Makes me feel sad she spends all her time in crystal. Don't even get me started with her fate in the end of FFXIII-2 and during Lightning Returns.**

Worlds: Radiant Garden/Mirage Arena

* * *

[Three Months Later]

It's a lovely spring day. Everyone at Merlin's is preparing everything for a special event. The TV is set on the combat channel, which shows live footage of anything that happens in the current Mirage Arena tournaments. Everyone is setting up the snacks and drinks.

"I just place an order for the pizza." Riku says.

"I still can't believe Patrick made it all the way to the Keyblade War Tournament." Leon says.

"No one has ever beaten that tournament. Not once." Noel says.

"It's no lie. I never made it past round sixteen back then." Terra says.

"Well, if anyone cam beat that tournament, Patrick well." Aerith says.

"Oh, I don't know. He maybe a LeiShen and all that, but I think he'll crash on round 27." Yuffie says.

Everyone falls silent a little. Don't know either to laugh at Yuffie's joke or feel offended for me. Just then, the door bursts open. Everyone looks to see it's Serah. She's lending against the wall, panting, completely out of breath. They all seem concern.

"Serah? What happened?" Leon asks.

Serah couldn't speak. She just pants heavily to catch her breath. "Terra...Ventus!" She looks at them with a surprised expression. "Aqua...hospital...Come quick!"

Hearing that worries them, then they rush out the door.

There's nothing but darkness in the hospital. That's all she's seeing, but then she starts opening her eyes. Everything is all blurry and white, can't even make out what's going on. Is she alive, or is she dead? It takes a while, but her vision comes clear. She moans tiresome as she rises her hand, trying to reach for the sky.

The sight of her arm surprises her. There are no blood steins, no scratches, bruises or even dirt. But there is a small tube that's taped to her arm.

Aqua looks to the side. She appears to be in some kind of room. "Wh...wha?" Her voice is hoarse. She drops her arm on the hospital bed. She can barely feel any strength in her body, and once the feeling slowly returns, she feels something soft she's touching, then in her muscles is soreness.

She starts pushing herself up, trying to sit up. But her strength is pretty weak, it takes a whole minute. By the time she's sitting, her head leans down and she groans as she puts a hand on her head. "Oh...my head." Right now, Aqua is just in a light blue hospital gown.

Aqua looks to see she's in some kind of room. The last thing she remembers is being trapped in the Realm of Darkness. Never she would believe she could be anywhere else but that miserable world.

Just then, Terra and Ventus bursts into the room. "Aqua?" They both say together.

Aqua looks at them, surprised, but confused. "...Ter...ra...Ven?"

They are both bursting in excitement. "AQUA!" They both rush towards Aqua and embraced her together. Aqua isn't really pleased, in fact, she's hurting.

"Ow...guys! Stop!" Aqua says, they both didn't listen.

Serah comes in to find Terra and Ven hurting Aqua. "Guys, stop. You're hurting her."

Terra and Ventus realizes they are, then they release her. "Sorry about that." Terra says. Aqua takes the moment to recover. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty sore..." Aqua looks at Terra then Ven, dazed. "Am I...still dreaming?"

"No. You're not dreaming. You're finally awake!" Ventus says.

Aqua was pretty confused. Ventus and Terra explains everything to her about what happened. How each of them have been gone for fifteen years. Aqua knew she was gone for a long time, but that was quite a stretch.

"Three months? I've been asleep for that long?" She asks, surprised.

"You had us really worried. We thought you would never awake." Ventus asks.

"Yeah, Patrick was pretty devastated as well." Terra says.

Aqua's eyes light up. "Patrick? ...He's alive?"

"He is. In fact, he's the one who saved us." Ventus says.

"Oh my...I have to see him. I-" Aqua was about to get up, but realizes something, and it horrifies her. Terra and Ventus notices her expression. Aqua looks at her legs, which are under the cover. "My legs...I can't move them." Terra removes the cover. Her legs are wrapped in bandages. The only parts that are exposed are her thighs, heels and toes. Aqua puts a hand on her right leg, feeling it. "I...can't feel anything."

This is shocking to Terra and Ven. "Doctor, what's wrong with her?" Serah asks.

"I'm afraid her condition is worse then we realize." The doctor explains. "Your friend's health is stable, but her immune system is left out very weak. Her wondering and fighting in the darkness over the years nonstop caused her a major disablement in her system."

"Meaning?" Ventus asks.

"She is completely paralyzed below waist." The doctor says.

They are shocked to hear that. "Isn't there anything we can do?" Serah asks.

"Afraid not. We've done all we can. It's possible the paralysis will wear off, but the chances are very slim. It could take months, or years...but it's most like she'll remain this way for the rest of her life." The doctor says.

Everyone is sadden to hear that, especially Aqua. "No." Aqua looks down in sorrow.

Ventus grabs a hold of Aquas hand. "Aqua...I'm so sorry."

Aqua shook her head and manages a small smile for Ven. "No, it's okay Ven. You don't have to apologize." She looks at Terra. "I'm just glad we're together again. I missed you guys."

Terra smiles, then the three of them pulls each other into a group hug. "We missed you too, Aqua." Terra says.

Serah feels touched seeing this. They disband the hug. "Where is Patrick? Is he here?" Aqua asks.

"No. He's actually at the Mirage Arena." Terra says.

"Ever since you fell into a coma, he's really been depressed. He tried to distract himself from his sorrows, so he sign up for the arena." Ventus says.

"He's actually gotten pretty good. He made it all the way to the Keyblade War tournament." Terra says.

Aqua is surprise to hear that. "Really? That's amazing!"

Serah looks at her phone, and is worried at what she's seeing. "Guys! It's happening in five minutes!"

Terra and Ven are shocked to hear that. "WHAT!? ...Oh crap." Terra looks at the doctor. "Doctor, is there anyway Aqua can have a temporary leave?"

"Uh...well, she is in fine condition. So I suppose-" The doctor is shortly interrupted.

"Yeah. That's great!" Terra carries Aqua, arms on her back and under her legs. "Come on. We have to hurry." Then they all run for their lives to Merlins.

Meanwhile, I am looking over the victors list of the Keyblade War Tournament. Of course I shouldn't call it victors since there are no winners. Just a list of people who tried out. The furtherest anyone has ever gotten was my father, up to round 30. I see Aqua, Ventus and Terra had tried out as well. Terra on 16, Ventus on 14 and Aqua on 22.

I wonder if I'll prevail.

After looking at the list, I check my phone, look at each of the texts. All of my friends, who knows about the outside worlds, have heard of the tournament and are wishing me best of luck. I scroll through the list of messages, until I reach a new one from Serah. Her reads: 'Good luck. I'm rooting for you, big brother.'

After that, I put my phone away, then look at the screen on up of the register board. Only less then two minutes before my match begins. "I just wish she was here to watch." I grab hold of my Wayfinder, thinking about Aqua. After a while, I shake it out of my head. "No time to be in mourning. I need to focus."

I put on my black fedora hat. When the countdown ends, I'm teleported.

* * *

The news lady makes an announcement. "All right everyone who enjoys hardcore combat sports! Are you ready? Cause it is now time for the Keyblade War Tournament!"

Leon and the others are watching the news as the lady goes on saying how hard the match is and how long it's been since anyone was willing to take on. Just then, Serah, Terra and Ven bursts through the door, panting like crazy.

"There you guys are, what took you so long?" Leon asks.

"Yeah. The match is just about to begin." Yuffie says.

Leon notices Aqua in Terras arms. "Your friend is awake?"

"Who are these guys." Aqua asks Terra.

"There will be time for introductions later. The match is starting." Terra says.

"All right! It's time for the countdown!" The countdown shows on the TV screen. Terra sets Aqua on the couch, and everyone else joins in with them. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Keyblade War start!"

The screen shows the arena of the Keyblade War Tournament, which happens to be the very pillar of the Keyblade Graveyard, where Terra and I faced Xehanort in two different battles. I make an appearance at the one end of the zone. Aqua is speechless at the sight of me.

"Is that him?" Aqua asks.

"Of course." Serah says.

"Wow...he looks so...grown up." Aqua says.

"I know, we were shocked as well." Terra says.

"Wait until you see him in combat." Serah says. "Watch."

For my first round, I face Large Belly's, Defenders, Magicians and Shadow Screechers. I summon my Keyblade, take a deep breath then charge with a raging yell. The enemies charges towards me, except the Magicians, they just stay back throwing their cards. I deflect the cards with my Keyblade midway. I strike down the Shadow Screechers. The Large Bellies, I cast Ruinja at them, sure did damage them.

When I reach the Magicians, I strike them down. They did a few illusion spells, one doing duplicates of itself and the other turning into me. The battle on this round is rough. At some point, I am completely surrounded. They all attack me at once. Everyone at Merlin's gasps in worry, then I unleash Quakeja. It sends them flying, then I blow them away with Aeroja.

That destroys the enemies for the first round. "Wow...amazing." Aqua says.

"He is, isn't he?" Serah says.

My battles go on in the tournament. It goes on up until I face Eraqus on round 5. Aqua, Terra and Ventus seem a bit sadden to see this around. They miss their master. But they are surprise to see me going in battle against him. Eraqus is a hard fight, just like he was back in Castle Oblivion. Our strength is equal.

Everyone at Merlins watches closely, some of them holding their glasses so hard, any tighter they could break. I charge at Eraqus with a yell, swing my Keyblade at him. It hits him and he stumbles back. Eraqus takes the moment to recover, then he vanishes with the power of light.

Eraqus appears right behind me, a blind spot. Serah stands. "Big brother! Look out!"

I felt his presence. Just when Eraqus strikes, I vanish into the ground with the power of darkness. That certainly surprises Aqua. If she could feel her legs, she would stand. "What?"

The dark mists on the ground moves around until it's behind Eraqus. That's when I pop out, coated in darkness, and strike. Finishing Eraqus.

"What...he...he wields the power of darkness?" Aqua asks, shocked.

"Calm down, Aqua. It's nothing bad." Serah says, earning Aqua's attention. "He's a wielder of twilight."

That confuses Aqua. "Tw...twilight?"

"It means his light and darkness is equal." Leon explains. "He keeps them balance and that makes him strong."

"Yeah...look." Aqua returns her attention to the screen.

I'm facing an army of Darkballs and Berserkers. I first gather them with Magnega, then cast Duskja. That's when I swithc my powers to light and unleash Explosion. The next wave of enemies appears, and I'm surrounded. That's when I cast an orb of light and an orb of darkness in my hands. I clash them together, unleashing Chaotic Fusion.

Aqua gazes into the mixture of light and dark powers, as it destroys all the enemies. "Wow...that's uh...pretty good, I guess."

The tournament goes on for the next two hours. Every battle in each round gets harder and harder. I have encountered a ton of boss fights.

Terranort on round 10, seeing that fight makes Terra and Aqua a little uncomfortable. Vanitas on round 15. The 20th round is just the 1000 heartless army from Radiant Garden last year. Lingering Will on round 25. That round was pretty hardcore. Terra and Aqua are surprise to see this. Ven, not so much. He's already aware of the hollow armor.

My Command Styles and D-linking charms have gotten me this far. I'm already on the 30th round, currently in my Lightning D-link. On my offhand, I'm wielding the Black Angel instead of a duplicate of my main Keyblade. I'm facing against Skull Reaper. A massive Heartless that's a skeleton serpent with scythes for arms. This is a sudden death battle, the creature is fast and powerful. I can barely keep up with it.

Skull Reaper roars as it charges towards me and strikes at me with both of its scythes. I block the attack, the second I do, it creeps around me at high speed and strikes from behind. I heal myself with Curaga, then yell as I charge at it.

The strike the Heartless in the head, causing it to stagger back. I do quick strikes, then do Thunder Blade. Skull Reaper shouts in agony then charges towards me. It strikes, I dodge, doing Razor Gale during that dodge. I'm still running sideways around the Heartless, casting Thundaja spells. When I reach my full power, I unleash Zantetsuken.

Skull Reaper is destroyed.

Everyone, except Aqua, is on their feet, surprised. "No way! He made it through the 30th round?" Cid asks.

"No one's ever gone that far in thirty years." Terra says.

"He really is that powerful, isn't he?" Aqua asks. She still can't believe how much I've changed over the years.

* * *

My battles are pretty severe beyond the 30th round. On round 33, I start facing an endless horde of Shadow's and Neoshadow's. Round 35 is against Terranort and his massive guardian. I am right now facing Unversed and Nobodies in round 39.

"I can't believe how far he's gone." Rinoa says.

"I'm not surprised. He is quite the strategist type. Not one of those lunk heads who face enemies head on without thinking." Noel says.

"Oh, you mean people like you?" Yuffie asks.

Everyone but Noel laughs. I just defeated round 39, and I'm now entering round 40. Tifa whistles. "Look at this."

Everyone looks. My opponent on this round is the Armor of Eraqus. "It's the master again." Aqua says.

"You think he's even more powerful?" Ventus asks.

"Guess we'll find out." Riku answers.

The match starts, Armor of Eraqus makes the first strike, but instead, something assaults him. Armor of Eraqus drops his Keyblade, then collapses. I look surprised, as do everyone else.

"Wow. Defeated him in just one swipe?" Aqua asks.

"Uh...I don't think Big Brother did this." Serah says, feeling unsure.

Everyone looks at the screen, they realize Serah is right when they see my confused expression. Up ahead, there was some shimmering, which ends shortly. "Did you see that?" Aerith asks.

They did. Suddenly, Ventus is having the chills. He starts shivering and Aqua notices. "Ven. You okay?"

"I don't know...I just feel cold all of a sudden." Ventus answers.

Serah gets up. "I'll get you a blanket."

While Serah is gone, everyone still pays attention to the screen. The shimmering returns, only it gets bigger. I'm on alert, arming myself, ready to strike. The shimmer starts forming, into something gray. When the shimmering ends, it reveals a man in a gray rugged mantle cape and a metal skeletal mask with yellow glowing eyes.

Living Nightmare

Everyone gasps at the sight of it, and so does Serah are returning with the blanket. I stare speechlessly at the unknown character. "Wha...? What are you doing here? Are you with the Shadowmoon?" The unknown figure says nothing, it's as silent as a grave. It gazes at me, taking a deep breath, which sounds mechanical, then it exhales by releasing steam through the closed teeth.

Living Nightmare takes out its arm right out of the cape, holding out as it calls a Keyblade. Oblivion, wielding it backhanded. I'm surprised by the sight of this. "A Keyblade?" Leon and the others are shocked as well. Living Nightmare summons another Keyblade, Oathkeeper, on it's left hand, wielding it backhanded as well. Now it positioned itself to fight.

Living Nightmare's outfit is revealed from underneath the cape. It's the same uniform Vanitas and Riku wears, only it's black and gray, and the arms are really wrapped in bandages like a mummy. On it's chest is it sigil, which catches Rikus attention.

"Sora...look at that sigil." Riku says.

Sora and Riku looks directly at it. It's a Nobody logo, but the heart part on the bottom doesn't match the Nobody sigil. It's a Nightmare Dream Eater heart sigil.

"A Nobody...and a Dream Eater?" Sora asks.

"Is this part of the match?" Kairi asks.

"I don't think it is. Something is up." Leon says.

Living Nightmare makes the first strike, charging at me and delivering powerful strikes. Living Nightmare's attack patterns are the same as I do in Fever Pitch. I was able to block with my Holy Shield, then do Counter Aura just when it does it's finishing blow. I attack Living Nightmare, doing a few strikes, then Aerial Slam.

Living Nightmare does Dark Dance, its weapons coated in darkness then performs a Ars Arcanum. I get caught in the strikes, but I still live. I heal myself with Curaga. "Heal!" Then attack with Strike Raid, that's when I enter Critical Impact. I do my brutal attacks on Living Nightmare. While it's stagger, it counter attacks with Counter Raid, hurling both its Keyblades, attached to each other by the hilts, at me in a Strike Raid.

I cast Duskja, then do Shadow Dash. "Too slow!" Living Nightmare suffers majorly. My power surges deeper and I enter Black Maelstrom. Living Nightmare does Dark Tornado Strike, unleashing a tornado of dark mists, then constantly doing powerful sweeps. When it's done with that ability, it resumes attacking me. I mostly block with Holy Shield. When Living Nightmare finishes attacking, it focuses on me, locking its targets, then unleashes its Shotlock: Chaotic Charge.

Living Nightmare Rush repeatedly at me and attack with the power of darkness. I block most of them with my Holy Shield, but it breaks through. In the end, Living Nightmare does three dive explosions, the last one unleashing shockwaves in all directions with the power of darkness.

I heal myself with Curaga, only to shortly be attacked with Nightmarish Slumber. Living Nightmare channels intense powerful darkness on me. It seals me into a dome and I get very sleepy until I'm out like a light.

Everyone is worried to see this, then the screen turns into my nightmare. The scenery is the Valley of Darkness from the Realm of Darkness. I can tell it's a dream cause of the shimmering. In the center is Aqua, sealed in the darkness, on her hands and knees. On top is Rasputin and the Living Nightmare.

"You have a choice, girl! Surrender or die!" The dream Rasputin says.

The darkness that surruonds Aqua starts to multiply, and that part of the darkness takes form. "No...Please stop...it...hurts!" The dream Aqua says.

The darkness takes the form into a Nightmare Aqua, which is Aqua in the Heartless uniform Riku wears, and her eyes are purple. Everyone at Merlins are shocked to see this.

"What's happening?" Kairi asks.

"It looks like he's having a nightmare." Sora says.

"It seems that way. He is afraid of losing Aqua." Serah adds.

Aqua is sad to see and hear this.

I start attacking the Nightmare Aqua. I show no signs of fear or sorrow. Nightmare Aqua quickly recovers then casts Triple Dark Blizzaga. "Freeze!" Her voice is distorted. I dodge the flying purple shards of ice, then I do Falling Stars. That ability causes my power to surge deeper and I enter Twilight's Dawn.

I start attacking the Nightmare Aqua. My ultra-swift attacks staggers her a lot. When my finishing moves knocks her back, she counters with Barrier Surge. I do Soulstoke Spin, and that defeats the Nightmare Aqua. The creature's defeat frees the dream Aqua, only she lays unconscious.

I rush to her side and start channeling holy healing spell to revive her. Once she's restored, the nightmare ends and I return to the awaken realm.

Living Nightmare comes at me, I attack him viciously. It recovers and does it's counter raid. I do Lunar Sun on it, my weapons coated in Light (Mainhand) and dark (Offhand) and shooting them at the Living Nightmare in a Strike Raid fashion. That attack doesn't stagger the Living Nightmare, instead, it's still attacking me. When the ability ends, I heal myself with Curaga, then I unleash Twilight's Dawn.

Living Nightmare constantly staggers and counter attacks. It's counter attacks don't matter since I'm moving as fast as the speed of light.

In the end, I defeat Living Nightmare.

We now stand facing each other, waiting for the next attack from each other. Nothing happens, but Living Nightmare lets its guard down. That surprises me. "Just who are you?" I ask.

Living Nightmare doesn't answer, but it's yellow eyes let out a flash, then dashes towards me. I'm surprised. One second, I'm facing it, the next, it's right behind me, have me gripped with its Oblivion Keyblade at my throat.

Living Nightmare looks at me over my shoulder. It does nothing else, but it lends to my ear and whispers. I slightly gasp hearing it speak. It's giving me its name. After that, it lets me go. I turn to look at the mysterious man. Shimmering appears right behind it, then Living Nightmare turns and disappears into the shimmering.

Everyone at Merlins just looks at the screen speechlessly, even though it's only showing me staring at the Living Nightmare who's no longer there.

"What was that about?" Tifa asks.

"I don't know. Who was that guy?" Leon asks.

"Is he a Nobody or a Dream Eater?" Sora asks.

Everyone is asking questions about that fight, all to be silenced when the sound of broken glass and splashing liquid acquires. They all look to see Ventus mindlessly dropping his drink, hit attention glued to the screen.

Ventus gets on his feet, with the blanket over his shoulders, and approaches to the screen. "V...Ven...Ventus!" Aqua tries calling him but he doesn't respond.

Reading Aqua's mind, Terra gets up and shakes the kid. "Ven!"

Ven snaps out of his trance, and turns to face his friends. "Ven, are you okay?" Serah asks.

"Ye...yeah. It's just..." Ven looks back at the screen. "That man...he seems familiar."

Everyone is surprise to hear that. "Is it someone you know?" Aerith asks.

"No. It can't be. I don't know him or even his name." Ventus looks back at the group. "But it's...just this feeling. Maybe we meet once...but I don't really remember."

No one spoke. But Sora seems suspicious. That's when it hits him: He too met that mysterious man, during his Mark of Mastery exam. It was in Traverse Town, after sealing the first keyhole. Just before he departed, a figure in a metal skeletal mask and gray cape approached him. It took a long, deep look on Sora and asked him the question:

'_Are you...Ventus?_'


	44. Reunited

**A/N: Living Nightmare is mysterious all right. I wonder if Ventus knows anything about it since the boy feels some kind of connection. The Keyblade War would be quite an interesting tournament wouldn't you all agree? If you guys wonder what's going to be the 50th round, you will soon find out.**

World: Mirage Arena/Radiant Garden

* * *

After my battle against Living Nightmare, the rest of the tournament returns to normal. The next nine rounds are pretty difficult. Rounds 41-44 are a tough horde of Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed. There is no boss fight on round 45, but on rounds 45-49, are countless enemies. Endless waves of the dark forces. Each round more difficult then the last.

It's no wonder no one was able to defeat this round, and they haven't reached the real difficult ones, even though Skull Reaper was pretty intense.

The nine rounds lasts for two hours. Leon and the gang are getting on the edge of their seats with every round I conquer. I have finally reached to the final match. Round fifty.

"It's about time! I was getting edgy!" Cid says.

"I'm actually surprised he made it this far." Leon says.

"So am I. Seems just yesterday he can barely make a strike. Now look at him." Aqua says.

Right now, I'm all alone on the field. I just stand there in silence. I close my eyes and looks down, releasing a sign through my nose. I grab my Wayfinder. I think about Aqua. The very image of her in a coma on a hospital bed plagues my mind. A tear slides down my eye.

Aqua catches that and slightly gasps. "Is...he okay?"

Serah gets a close look as well. "I think he's probably thinking about you." Serah turns her attention to Aqua. "He doesn't know you're awake."

After a moment, I shake my head. "No...I must focus." I say. I summon my Keyblades, Royal Heart first then Black Angel second.

Serah is surprise. "Oh my. He's going dual-wielding on this round. Without even using his Wayfinder magic or that Twilight's Dawn power."

"My, my. Sounds like the boy's getting serious." Merlin says.

I position myself. So far, there's nothing, then something appears. There's a χ-blade, Royal HeartX, in the middle. I raise an eyebrow and humphed in question. Then an armored man with the cross LeiShen shield appears. This man is in the same armor as my father, even its head and face is protected. The man grabs the χ-blade by the hilt and pulls it out of the ground, positions itself. Weather it's a mirage or not, I'm facing my own father.

Heart's Champion.

I'm surprised. I did not except to see this. Leon and the others are taking notice. "I've never seen anything like that." Cloud says.

"This guy is even wielding a χ-blade." Ventus says.

Noel crosses his arms. "Nothing less I except for a final round in the impossible tournament."

We stand frozen in position, after a while, I start charging at Heart's Champion. I make the first strike, only to be blocked by the shield. I keep striking at my opponent, each attack blocked. After my seventh strike, it counter attacks, but I avoiding by leaping back.

We both rush towards to each other. The second I'm in range, Heart's Champion strikes me right in the stomach, with its shield. That kicked some air right out of my lungs. I even earned some 'Oohs' from everyone at Merlin's. Even Riku said "That's gotta hurt."

I fall back from the attack, laying on the ground struggling to breath. When I recover, I start to get up. "He...attacks with his shield?" I ask.

I get back on my feet, then we both charge at each other at high speed. We're on a locked combat, constantly attacking, parrying, dodging and blocking each others attacks. I start attacking faster, when I do, Heart's Champion attacks becoming less likely to happen and starts focusing on blocking with its shield.

Leon and the others are watching closely. To them, I'm attacking so fast they can't see my Keyblades. Serah clinches her fists and they shake. "Come on, big brother! This is the final round!"

"Finish him!" Terra cheers.

"Show us your guts!" Tifa shouts.

My attacks start to be able to hit Heart's Champion. The battle goes on the next half hour. I'm even start to reach my limits and the fight is barely over. Heart's Champion starts to weaken as well. That's when it starts to become stronger. Heart's Champion comes at me with a burst of speed, striking at me. I do swift dodges and deflect parrying.

Heart's Champion enhances his χ-blade with light and does powerful strikes. I get hit with most of them. Heart's Champion sends me in the air, jumps high. I recover midair and parry each of its attacks, up to the tenth strike when it starts hitting me hard.

Heart's Champion impales his weapon into my shoulder, which earns gasps from everyone, then tosses me straight to the ground. I scream then I slam hard the ground I land shatters and seeps in.

I lay on the ground, beaten down. I struggle to get up, only to shortly collapse back to the ground. "Come on, man! You're tougher then that!" Cid shouts.

I look up. Heart's Champion draws its χ-blade back, enhancing and charge in radiant light. I just look down then lay my head, a sign of giving up.

"No...he can't give up." Serah says.

Aqua is most surprised. She should know me well for me to not give up. Aqua takes out her Wayfinder, looking down at it. She slowly closes it in her hands and closes her eyes.

My side of the fight is not too bright either either. Even after all Serah and Aqua said to me, I am still Hopeless. I'm not drowning in despair over my family and people anymore, but I still mourning over Aqua's coma.

Heart's Champion is fully charged on its attack then does Radiant Crash, diving hard towards me.

I accept my defeat on this tournament. Just then, my Wayfinder glows. I gasp in surprise and it feels like everything around me is frozen. I know this feeling from the Wayfinder. I've felt it enough times in the Realm of Darkness to realize it. Usually, I'm calling to it, but instead...it's called to me.

"Aqua...she's...she's awake." I whisper.

She's awake...and she's probably watching my fight right now. Heart's Champion draws closer and closer, until it smashes and unleashes a blast of light and smoke. Everyone is on their feet, gasping. They glue their eyes onto the screen.

The light and smoke starts to clear, to their surprise, even Heart's Champion, the attack missed my head by a few inches. I look serious and offfensive at my opponent, then kick him hard knocking him back.

I get back on my feet, glaring at Heart's Champion. Leon and the others are surprise to see this. I point Royal Heart on my opponent. "I will not give up...I won't back down!" I shout. "Not while she's watching...Not Aqua!"

Aqua, Terra, Ventus and Serah are all shocked to hear that. "He...he knows?" Terra asks.

"Apparently." Ventus says.

I start powering up, much like how I did back in the Realm of Darkness against Ragnarok, then unleash it all, entering Twilight's Dawn. Aqua is amazed at the sight of this. "Whoa!"

I rush towards Heart's Champion. Heart's Champion rushes towards me as well. When we're close, we start attacking swift and powerful. Heart's Champion blocks every attack I place on him. With each attack, I strike faster. Eventually, Heart's Champion ends up with only blocking.

For my final blow, my Keyblades are enhanced in Twilight Energy, then unleash Starburst Stream. Each attack is blocked, and the final X strike drills hard on the shield. An intense force is unleashed from the impact. The shield holds it well until it cracks and shatters. Heart's Champion is knocked back when the shield broke.

Everyone at Merlin's is shocked. "He...destroyed that shield?"

I forge my two Keyblades into a χ-blade. We are both positioned and then attack. Heart's Champion can only parry and strike now. My attacks grows vicious. I plant my attacks on my opponent. For my final strike, I sent the χ-blade flying from Heart's Champion's hand.

The χ-blade flies down and I grab it. Now I'm dual-wielding two χ-blade's, and Heart's Champion is defenseless. I shout in rage and deliver an endless amount of strikes. I give an uppercut strike, sending Heart's Champion into the area. I burst into the air going after the armored warrior.

I split into the light and dark forms and do the next rush and dash attacks. After them, my two images soars directly at Heart's Champion, draw the two χ-blades back then unleash a hard impact X strike. My two forms merge back from the impact. When I stop going up, I hold the two χ-blade's together then dive towards Heart's Champion.

The second I hit him, a sudden burst of twilight energy happens. We her greatly enhanced in it and fall like a meteor. We crash, unleashing a massive explosion in the process. For a while, there's gray nothingness from the smoke. When it clears, it reveals Heart's Champion is dead on the ground, with its Royal HeartX impaled right through his chest. I stand in triumph in front of my opponent. Even behind all the cuts and bruises, I stand with pride.

Everyone is completely speechless, mouth open, shocked expressions and, all of them at once, dropped their glass cups. After a while, they cheer with glee and victory. In my arena, fireworks are going off, and I look up to see them. On the screen, the footage of the Mirage Arena shrinks to reveal the reporter.

"For the first time ever! Someone has actually win the Keyblade War tournament! Can you all say 'UNBELIEVABLE!'."

After the celebration fireworks, I was sent back to the Mirage Arena registration area. After collecting my things, I make my way back to Radiant Garden.

* * *

"So, how does this work?" Noel asks.

Everyone at Merlins is setting up a little party, celebrating my victory of achieving being the first ever out-worlder to conquer the Keyblade War tournament at the Mirage Arena. Everything's all set up, now they're just waiting for my arrival.

Terra, Ventus and Aqua are trying to teach everyone how to play the Command Board. "It's simple. Just roll the dice, make your move. And if you land on a free space, claim it." Ventus says.

"Just whatever you do, don't play with Aqua. She can be a sore loser sometimes." Terra says.

Aqua seems offended, she slaps her hands on the armrests of her wheelchair. "I am NOT!"

Aqua's outfit is a black long-sleeve, legless one-piece suit with shoulders exposed, black fingerless gloves, light-violet sleeveless vest, light-violet bell-sleeves with white lines, gray waist. (Similar to the outfit on "KH Aqua Outfit Redesign" by jinternet in DeviantART, but currently without the stockings and sandles.) But her legs are still wrapped in bandages.

"Are you kidding? The last time we played, we were both four steps away to victory, and I beat you cause you got that 3 ones on a three dice." Terra says.

"Then you casted Mega Flame on us. I still have the burnt marks." Ventus says.

Aqua looks down in shame hearing that. "She did, didn't she? Well I wouldn't blame her after that happened." Yuffie says with a laugh.

Meanwhile, I arrive at the Central Square of Radiant Garden. On my left forearm, I hold on the plaque I earn from the Mirage Arena. It's a brown and gold plaque with a Keyblade engraving, and above it states my victory in the tournament. When I entered Radiant Garden, I rush towards the hospital to see Aqua. But she wasn't there. I was told as soon as she awoken, she checked out. I know this was probably Serah's doing. My next choice is I return to Merlin's house.

I now just stand in front of the door. It's the only thing that separates me from Aqua. It's been 15 years since we last seen each other, ever. What will happen? What will she say and think? I take a deep breath and open the door.

I walk right into the dark, closing the door behind me. When I do, I was caught by surprise what happens next.

"SURPRISE!"

The lights turn on and everyone shouted. I was certainly surprised, I'll give them that. Everyone gathers around, congratulating me, offering hand shakes, pat on the back, a hug from Serah.

"I knew you could do it, big brother!" Serah says.

"You were pretty amazing out there. I'm speechless." Terra says.

"Yeah. Being the first to actually beat the impossible tournament. Guess someone's going to be pretty popular." Rinoa says. It probably wouldn't be called the 'impossible' anymore now that I beaten it.

Yuffie stands uncomfortably close to me. "Did I ever tell yea you're my favorite?"

I just give a doubtful look. "Of course. The name 'Hammerhead' was speaking volumes." I say sarcastically.

Yuffie just laughs, pulls me close as she wraps an arm around me. "Oh, Patrick. You are quite the jokester."

I put a hand on Yuffie's face then shover her away. "Big brother." I turn to Serah. "There's someone here who wants to meet you." Serah takes me hand as she guides me through the crowd. She takes me all the way to the dining room, where Aqua awaits on the wheelchair, with Ventus and Terra at her sides.

Just like back in the Realm of Darkness, I can't believe at what I'm seeing. My hand is over my mouth and my eyes are overwhelming in tears. Even with a blurry vision, I can still see Aqua's smile. I slowly approach to the girl, until I'm inches away. I kneel down to her level then hug her, head over her shoulder softly sobbing.

Aqua looks a bit surprised. Everyone else seems awkward, except for Serah and Aerith. "Never...I never even dreamed...of seeing you again. I've looked everywhere...I thought...I..."

I couldn't say anything else. Aqua softly smiles and returns her hug. "I'm sorry for worrying you so much." Aqua moves a hand to my head, gently stroking my hair. "I'm just glad you are safe." When the hug ends, she looks at me with her smile then wipes the tears from my eyes. "Come now, dry those tears. We're together again, that's all the matters."

I offer a smile then nod. "Does anyone else find this weird?" Cid whispers.

"I think it would have been better if he was a kid." Cloud says.

"I think it's sweet." Aerith says.

I get back on my feet, then look down. I'm surprised to see her legs are in bandages. "Aqua...your legs. What happened?"

That's when everyone tells me what the doctor said about Aqua's condition. I was horrified to hear that, but mostly guilty. "No...This is...horrible." I look down in shame. "This is...all my fault. If I had gotten you out sooner..."

Aqua grabs my hand and shook her head when I look at her. "No. It's not your fault. I brought this upon myself."

"Maybe so. One thing is for sure, it's defiantly not good." Leon says. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Don't worry about it, guys. I'm all right." Aqua says.

"Yeah. You heard the girl. Let's celebrate." Yuffie says.

We now have a party here at Merlins. Tifa is working behind the corner of her bar in the kitchen, making drinks. I'm playing the Command Board with Ventus, Terra, Kairi and Leon. I am also learning how to play this game. I've never really seen it back in Land of Departure. Terra did tell me they decided to stop playing it while I was around cause they didn't want me to see Aqua being a sore loser.

I don't blame them.

Whenever it's someone else's turn, I look over my shoulder to Aqua. She's having a friendly conversation with Serah and Aerith. They're probably talking about me. Aqua seems to get along very well with everyone. It's no surprise really. I makes me feel happy, but I frown suddenly realizing something:

Rasputin is still out there, and he'll do whatever it takes to get me dead. If I want to keep Aqua safe, I'll have to stop Rasputin once and for all.

"Hey, Patrick!" Hearing Leon returns my attention to the game. "Your move."

"Oh...right." I say.

* * *

The party went on for hours. At night, everyone was pretty excited and went to sleep. Right now, it's five in the morning. Dawn starts to arrive at the horizon of Radiant Garden. I just lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. Once I've had enough, I got up and go out for a walk.

I start walking on the walls of the city. Instead of climbing the wall like before, I took the stairs next to the Bailey entrance in the Borough. When I walk, I'm caught by surprise.

Aqua is sitting on the bench, and next the bench is where her wheelchair rests. She just looks straight ahead, probably at the dawning orange trying to seep through the dark skies. She's in nothing but a blue rope.

"What are you doing here?" Aqua flinches and turns to see me. "You shouldn't be here by yourself. You need to rest."

"I know...I just couldn't get some sleep." Aqua says.

I walk past her from behind the bench and set on the empty seat next to her. "Is something bothering you?" I ask.

"I don't know...it's just..." Aqua looks down in silence, then looks back at the view. "I can't believe how long I've been gone. So much as happened...it's really hard to take it all in."

"Wasn't easy for Ventus and Terra either." I say. "You should have seen Ventus when he first saw me. He was so overwhelmed, he fainted."

Aqua gives a small chuckle. "I'm not surprised. He can be a little squeamish sometimes."

"I can hardly call that a squeamish moment really." I say. "You know, I was really upset about losing you. All these years, I thought you were dead. I have given up everything, all hope that you would return."

"I am sorry for al that. I didn't mean to make you worry." Aqua says.

I No give a slow nod, then I look at her legs then her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Still a little shaken from my injures." Aqua looks at her legs. "Still can't feel anything below my waist, but." She looks at me with a smile. "I'm fine." Aqua frowns a little. "I just hope I'll be able to walk again. I can't move on my own, do some cooking, or even make my bed."

I feel bed for Aqua. "Well...I can do all that for you." Aqua looks at me astonished. "You have done so much for me when I was a kid, it's the last I can do."

Aqua smiles. "Thank you." We are silent afterwards, looking back at the view. Shortly afterwards, Aqua looks and speaks. "By the way, you were really good out there." I look at Aqua. At first, she's smiling, then the smile disappears. "However, I was surprised you were wielding the power of darkness. You do know the darkness is our enemy."

"I'm well aware of that, but it's not entirely true." I say. "Sure, the light is our friend. But the light alone can be dark too." Aqua seems surprise to hear that.

"What are you...saying?" Aqua asks.

I sigh, standing up. "Well, it's like this:" I start walking around at the edges of the wall. Aqua traces her eyes on me. "There is darkness inside everybody. We can't get rid of it. But if we use it right, the darkness can be your ally. Everyone believes in the light, and we all trust it. But if you lost control over it, you will become blinded. The power of darkness can be used to serve and protect the light. The power of light can be used to succumb to the darkness without even noticing." I stop when I'm in front of Aqua. "How else can I put this..." I turn you Aqua. "You heard about what Eraqus did before he died?"

Aqua slowly nods. "I have. He tried to hurt Ven."

"Indeed. Eraqus succumbed to the light. Because of that, it blinded him from the truth. He tried to destroy Ventus just to prevent the χ-blade." I say. "You should have seen Eraqus. Under all that light, there was nothing but Anger. Arrogance. Judgment. A heart clouded in the light that is truly darkness."

Aqua just seems a little lost. "Well...you have a point about what the master did was a mistake. But I'm not sure about the rest. If anything, he was probably just lost."

"That's probably true. But trust me, if you were there, you would have seen it too." I say. "But it's no matter. If there's anything I have learned, only relaying on one, wither it's either light or darkness, can leave you astray. With both light and darkness in equal power, you can become strong, be able to see through the brightest of light and the blackest of dark."

"Well, the way you fought with your...Twilight powers. It does prove your point about its strength." Aqua says. I nod then sit right back on the bench next to Aqua. "I was told you got back your memories."

"Yeah..." I look at Aqua. "You knew all along, didn't you? Who I really was."

She is quiet at first, then answers. "I did...The master and Yen Sid found out, and they told me. I never really told you because I was trying to protect you...If word got around about you were the LeiShen, I just know trouble would come."

"Well, that didn't stop Rasputin. He did found out after all." I say. "It's probably for the best anyways, since I was affected by the Voidful Mind." Aqua looks confused. "Long story. Just know it's a dangerous darkness inside my mind that was preventing me from remembering my past. But it's done now."

Aqua nods. "I see." Aqua looks back at the view. "You know, I've been in the darkness so long, I never dreamed I would return to the light. I'm just glad it's all over."

I'm not convinced. It's true that Aqua's imprisonment is over, but this is only the beginning. "No." I stand as Aqua looks at me confused. "Rasputin is still out there. He'll stop at nothing until he has me dead. As long as he still exists...it's not over." I turn to Aqua, looking down at her. "Well no more. I'm done playing with these games. If Rasputin wants the last LeiShen, he'll get it."

Aqua seems worried. "What are you...saying?"

"I'm going back into the darkness and put an end to Rasputin." I say.

We said nothing else for the rest of the morning. When we were done, I carry Aqua back on her wheelchair then push her back to Merlin's. It's not early in the morning. I'm about to make my leave. In front of Merlins out, I bid a final good-bye to Terra, Ventus, Aqua and Serah.

"Are you sure about this?" Terra asks.

"I'm positive. there's no other way." I say.

"At least let us help you." Ventus offers.

I shook my head. "No. This is my fight. I have to do this alone. Besides, in case I don't return, you guys need to stay and watch over Aqua. You will all she have left when I am gone."

"I guess that's true." Ventus says.

"Just please be careful and return home safely." Serah says.

I nod to Serah. I turn to Aqua, who is the only one that's quiet. "You know I have to do this. If I don't...who knows what will happen."

Aqua gives a slow nod. "I know you do, and I understand." I lean in and Aqua and I hug. "I believe in you." She whispers into my ear. After the hug, Aqua reaches into her pocket, holding out an Aqua Charm. "Here. I found this when I was wondering in the darkness. I felt the light within it. I know it'll be good use for you."

I nod and accept the charm. "Don't worry. I'll destroy Rasputin and then I'll come home." I get a good final look at everyone. They wish me luck, but are still worried for me. I then turn. "See yea." Then walk away.

Now the final journey is about to begin.


	45. Nobody's Darkness

**A/N: Finally reunited. But I am right. As long as Rasputin lives, there can be no peace. No end to this madness. I am now on a journey to find that traitor and put an end to him. And there is nothing that's going to stand in my way! Nothing will penetrate through my razor sharp focus...oh look! That cloud looks like a bunny...Wait, what was I doing?**

World: The World That Never Was

* * *

I must find my way back into the Realm of Darkness. From what I've learned, Rasputin is unable to leave the dark realm. Entering the Realm of Darkness isn't going to be easy. If it were, I would have gotten Aqua out of it the second I found out she's alive. Or perhaps when she sacrificed herself for my own protection.

I have searched every world for a way in, there's no point in checking those worlds again. I am going to check the one world I haven't fully checked. The Nobody world: The World That Never Was.

I arrive in this world from the Alley to Between, making my way through the city streets, cutting down any Nobodies that stands in my way. This world is very close to the darkness. It's most like that I'll find a way into the dark realm somewhere.

I should have thought about that sooner.

After fighting my way through the pathways, I arrive at Memory's Skyscraper. This is how far I've gotten in this world, cause of that illusion Aqua and Wingul and Zaela.

When I'm in the middle of the area, I look around. "There's gotta be a way into the dark realm." I say. But I however do not see a way. I sigh. "There must be something..." I take the moment to think.

I remember how the darkness in that realm have felt. The dark presence...Then I've got it. I stand straight, take a deep breath and close my eyes. I focus my energy in feeling the dark presence within this world. The presence is strong, but different. In this world, the feeling of the darkness is empty. The feeling of the darkness in its own realm is dark and cold. I can hardly feel the presence of the Realm of Darkness within this world.

'Concentrate' I think, as I focus deeper. 'Feel that cold, dark aura.'

As I concentrate, I feel like everything is slowing, until time has frozen. The feeling of the dark presence grows stronger, spreads wider throughout this world. It's very faint, very far, but I feel it.

The portal into the Realm of Darkness.

I break out of my concentration and make a run to it. "Let's go!"

I take the path into the stronghold of Organization XIII. Surprisingly, the passage Sora made in the Brink of Despair is still here. The castle is large and abandoned since Organization XIII have been defeated.

I enter Nothing's Call, only to be greeted by an army of Nobodies. "Looks like a welcoming committee from the Shadowmoon." I summon my Keyblade, positioned myself to fight. "Bring it on, empty husks!"

I make the first move by casting Zero Gravija. I attack the Dusks and Sorcerers that are caught in the gravity spell. The Snipers stays back and shoot at me, but I deflect their lasers, sending them back at the shooters. I cast Sparkja, which destroys the Dusks. The Sorcerers break free from the Zero Gravity effect.

I enter Star Surge and attack the Sorcerers. Their magic attacks hurt me as I strike. The Snipers also shoots at me. I stagger from the attacks then heal myself with Curaga. I strike down the Sorcerers then rush over to the Snipers. Those still far from my attacks still shoot at me.

I deflect their attacks, destroying them. "No Nobodies are going to stop me." It's pretty much true since I have defeated Ragnarok and the Keyblade War Tournament.

Nothing can stop me.

I continue on my path. More Nobodies stands in my way. The Dancers were the first enemies I focus on attacking. They are very annoying when they fixate on me. That's when things get ugly. Not to mention it's very creepy.

I enter the Crooked Ascension. Once I'm in the center, the elevator starts to go up. The Elevator doesn't go far. It just goes halfway it normally does to the Twilight's View. I walk into the next room, the Delusive Beginning. Nobodies appears, just some Berserkers, Monks and Dualists.

I gather them with Magnega, then cast Thundeja. "Thunder!" That destroys half the Nobodies, then my power surges deeper then I enter Elemental Mastery. I finish off the rest of the Nobodies then continue onward. I arrive at the base of the area. It's nothing but a ring room with a high ceiling. I do look at the opening at the top.

"That must be my passage...There's got to be a way to get up there." I say.

I start looking around the area, beginning in the west hallway. Nobodies guard this hallway, but that doesn't stop me. The Dusks weave around as I focus my attacks on the Gamblers and Lancers. They aren't very unlucky once I unleash my full power of Elemental Mastery.

As soon as the Nobodies are cleared, I look around. Eventually, I find some switch on the wall. I look at it curiously. "What does this do?" I grab the switch and pull it. The castle shakes and rumble happens. I'm on alert. A trap perhaps? The shaking happens for a minute then sudden ends. Even after all of that, I am still cautious. "Huh...Well, at least it's not a trap."

I continue searching this hallway, until there's nothing else then I return to the base. There, I was taken by surprise. A spiral stair ramp appears in the center of this room. However, it doesn't go far, just by one-third of how much I need to reach the opening above.

That's when I realize. The switches will make a new path for me. I'll just have to keep searching.

I enter the hallway to the east. More Nobodies stand in my way. The Snipers shoots at me. I dodge as I charge towards them. I yell fierce as I got close. I leap and strike them down. The Dusks and Berserkers attacks me once they see their Snipers defeated.

They all come at me, at once. I channel my magic, making a fusion of my Magnet and Zero Gravity spells. Then I unleash Gravity Well. A small dark orb appears above me, then it grows large into a massive magnetize dark bubble. All the Nobodies gets sucked in, suffering damage. The orb starts shrinking until it implodes into nothingness.

Now that's done, I head to the end of the hallway. I pull the switch on the wall. The room shakes as the next set of stairs appears in the center room. I go back to the center room. The stair case is even higher, but not enough to reach the room above. However, I do see the end of the stair case reaching to the ledge on the upper walls. Up there, there's a switch.

"Bingo!" I say.

I start running my way up the steps, until I reach the end and hop on the ledge. Time Bombs and Lancers appears in the air. I shoot firebolts at them as I run towards the switch. The Lancers do their Jump ability to avoid being hit, but the Time Bombs weren't very lucky.

I leap forward to avoid the Lancers that were ambushing at me from above. When they're all assemble, I wave my Keyblade as I make a quick turn, unleashing a blade beam of ice at them. That cuts through each of the Nobodies. When I make it to the switch, I pull it.

The room shakes and rumbles as I watch the staircase move upwards, spinning until the path connects to the opening above.

"All right!" I jump back on the path of the spiral stairs and continue on.

The next room I arrive in is the Walk of Illusions. I remember this area, back when Riku and I came to save Sora from Young Xehanort. Use to be a maze room with multiple stairs. But that was cleared out and it's now nothing more then a single path to the next area.

I run down the path, only to be greeted by Nobodies. I use my Aqua Charm, activating the D-link. I'm coated in a magic aura and my Keyblade extends in arcane energy. I start attacking the Nobodies. They fight back, but I avoid their attacks with teleporting. Everytime I teleport, I appear right behind the one that failed to attack me.

I cast Blizzaja at the Samurais. The Saberon's leaps towards me. I get dog piled by them. More like cat pile if you ask me. When I get back on my feet, I cast Diamond Dust, surrounding myself with ice crystals then shattering them, hurting the Nobodies around me.

When they're all destroyed, I continue on, only to be greeted by more of them. I cast Glacier, freezing all of the Nobodies then sending them flying. The ice shatters when they hit the walls. The Nobodies that survived the attack rushes back towards me. I gather them with Whirlpool, causing a tornado of water above me which sucks in the Nobodies. The Nobodies are defeated and I continue onward.

I enter the next area, Fact within Fiction. This place have different paths. The one I take is the one with purple beams shooting out. I carefully make my way through. Luckily Aqua's teleporting helps me avoid getting hit. So far, I haven't encountered any Nobodies. But that changed when I made it to the near end of the area, on the large circular platform.

I am surrounded. When they come close, I wash them away with Waterja. I next gather them with Megnega, then I reach my full power and unleash Blade Charge. I hold my weapon high, unleashing a pulse of energy, then I spin my weapon around at high spin, then slam the ground in front of me, unleashing a pulse of arcane energy in its wake, for a final blow.

With those Nobodies defeated, I continue on into the Verge of Chaos.

* * *

Making my way through the Verge of Chaos was difficult. Riku doesn't make it as easy as he did back in the dream world. Then again, he was jumping and bouncing off walls while I have no capability to do that, especially in the waking realm.

I arrive at the roof top of the multi-turret tower. I look around for a clue of some sort, then I see it: A dark corridor. "There!"

I approach to the portal. The dark presence it contains. It the same fainted dark cold aura I felt back in the city. I reach my hand out to it. I was about to touch, until something hits me hard I was sent flying. I land right back at the entrance of the tower.

I'm laying on the ground for a moment, then I get on my hands. "Ow!" I put one of my hands on my jaw. It hurts pretty bad.

"Well. Well...Well. Look who decided to show up." I turn and look up. It's Zaela, smirking with her hands on her hips.

"You!" I get up, only up to my foot and knee, then I react to the pain on my jaw. "Ow...Man, and I thought Tifa's brawling was painful."

I get back on my feet. "You are such a crybaby." Zaela says. "You know, I actually thought you were dead." Zaela stomps her foot. "I owe Wingul 5000 munny."

I put a serious face on. "You actually believe that toy of a Heartless would kill me?" I ask.

Zaela laughs like I just said something stupid. "Oh, sweetheart. Of course we didn't!"

I am confused. "What do you mean?"

Zaela looks at me, groaning. "Oh geez!" She turns and slowly walks. "Why are all boys so stupid?" Zaela stops then turns to face me. "Let me tell you something. Rasputin and the rest of us had never any intention of killing that little toy of yours." I can feel my blood boiling. How can she still insult Aqua like that? "All of those warnings we gave you and all those assaults we put on the puppet. Didn't you see? We were trying to lure you into the darkness, so that you would destroy that very Heartless that was banished into the depths."

"Why? Besides being the Heartless of my very own people, what makes it so special that I destroy it?" Zaela gives me a look just like I said the answer, and I have. "Wait...you don't mean?"

"Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner!" Zaela says, teasing me. "Your thoughts are correct. Rasputin's plan was to break your spirit. You have lost your home and family. We have broken that pathetic girl who you hold dear, and you have also killed your own people. With all of that wrapped together, we knew that you would give into despair, eventually crushing your spirit into teeny-tiny little pieces."

I am surprise to hear all this. How could I not see this coming? I know she's telling the truth cause it all happened, three months ago in Radiant Garden. My attack on Serah, who is like a sister to me, is the living proof of it.

Zaela sighs. "Sadly...the plan failed." I look at her surprised. "In the end, the darkness of your broken spirit was suppose to make you give up on life, eventually leading you to your death. But you somehow manage to overcome your despair." Zaela kicks the ground. "I knew we should have gone straight and kill you ourselves." Zaela cracks her knuckles. "Well, it's never too late." Then position herself to fight. "I hope you can fight better then that little toy."

I wipe my mouth then summon my Keyblade. "Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you just because you're a girl."

Zaela smiles. "I hope so. it's no fun beating on a challenger that treads lightly."

Zaela makes the first strike, charging towards me. She charges with high speed, then she leaps, drawing her fist back. I make my stance, blocking. She strikes, only on my shielded Keyblade. Her attack was still heavily hard. Even standing my ground, I was forced to slide back. When I'm still, I repel Zaela, then cast a Firaja at her.

Zaela defends herself. She remains on her feet, standing like a statue, but still suffered full damage. I rush towards her then cast a Quakeja to knock her in the air. When she's midair, I trap her in an Aeroja, that traps her in the vortex at first, then blows her away.

Zaela gets back on her feet, then charges towards me. I charge back at her. Once we're in range, we attack. I strike at Zaela, she blocks with her hands. She punches me in the face, then kicks only to have me jump on the lower kicks and duck and dodge on the upper kicks.

I make another strike, only Zaela stops it by grabbing the blade. She looks at me with a smirk. This isn't good. "Let's have some fun." She kicks me right in the stomach, causing me to stagger, then spins me around until she jumps. When we're thirty feet in the air, she tosses me down. A Seismic Toss. I crash on the ground, breaking it. Zaela dives down, shouting. Seeing her coming, I roll out of the way and she destructed the ground from the impact.

I get back on my feet, looking back at Zaela. Zaela stands, looking mad. "Hold still you little wimp!"

I use my Kairi Charm, activating the D-link. Zaela charges towards me. I cast Waterja at her, then Holy, channeling the power of light then causing beams of light to rain down on Zaela. Zaela staggers from the magics, then I attack her head on.

Once Zaela recovers, she slams her fist on the ground, causing a rave of risen spikes rushing towards me. I dodge out of the way then cast Hydro Pump, channeling a pump of water at Zaela. Zaela comes at me, attacking. I get hit by her attacks, then I heal myself with Curaga.

After healing, I continue attacking with Princess's Faith, striking with light enhanced attacks. Zaela grabs me on the chest then slams me on the ground.

"Your bones will break!" She shouts as she slams on me with an elbow slam. That sure hurts a lot.

After recovering, I get back on my feet and attack Zaela. Zaela defends herself from my attacks, then I cast Destiny's Light. The orbs of light breaks Zaela's defenses, then I finish her off by unleashing Tidal Wave.

Zaela is coughing and soaked after drowning in the massive water, I give her a couple of attacks while she's weaken, then finish her with a rush slash. Zaela gasps from the slash. She clinches onto her side then collapses on her knees.

"No! No! ...How can...I lose to...a weakling?" Zaela says.

"Cause I've had years of hard core training. Meanwhile you are just hiding in the darkness while your Nobodies do the fighting for you. You're such a coward." I say.

Zaela looks over her shoulder and growls. "You little punk!" She gets her second wind, then charges at me with a yell. She draws her fist back. Just when she's in front of me, she gasps. that's when I stab her with my Keyblade. Zaela falls on her knees and starts fading away, until there's nothing left of her.

My Keyblade vanishes. "Humph. Pathetic." I turn, facing the dark corridor. "I'm coming for you, Rasputin."

I walked into the portal, returning into the Realm of Darkness.


	46. Hunting in the Dark

**A/N: Zaela is one tough nut to crack. Reminds you guys of someone? Or maybe two people as one? To me, it's like a mix of Tifa and Larxene. Well. That's two members of the Shadowmoon down. Now we move on back into the Realm of Darkness.**

World: Realm of Darkness

* * *

It's been three months since I was in the Realm of Darkness, yet it feels like the events of rescuing Aqua just happened yesterday. As I start walking on the Faithless Abyss, I keep my eyes open, all around. Not cause this world is a Heartless deathtrap, but I'm also keeping my eyes out for Rasputin. He's in this dark realm...somewhere.

"Rasputin." I say. "Where are you...?"

I continue walking. Once I arrive in the lower zone, that's when I start encountering the Heartless. I summon my Keyblade, glaring at the Heartless.

"You insects didn't stop me from saving Aqua! You will not prevent me from putting an end to Rasputin!" I say.

I cut the Heartless down to size. After defeating them, Darkballs appears all around me. I'm surrounded, but that doesn't stop me. I defeat them with a single Quakeja, then I continue on.

I still remember that presence I felt when I encountered Rasputin. The Cold. If I feel it, I know he's close. Very close.

So far, I've wondered around the lower zone. Only encountered some Heartless. No sign of Rasputin or the Shadowmoon. I move on to the middle zone. The area is crawling with Heartless. I use my Fairies Charm to activate the D-link. I fly towards each of the Heartless and strike them down.

Neoshadow's seeps into the ground and try to sneak attack me from below. I air slide to avoid the attacks, then I destroy them with some light and water magic. I defeat the Neoshadow's quickly then continue on ahead. All of the obstacles I triggered during my last visit are still here, thank goodness.

I make my way around this zone. Now, only the Heartless stands in my way. Defeating the Heartless here are easy going, even when I unleash my full power: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust.

After battling the Heartless, I start climbing up the made pathways, climbing and jumping on high places. Harpy Heartless's appears. They are in the air, I see where this is going. If the Heartless think they can outsmart me, they are sadly mistaken.

I blast fire spells and cast Thundaja at the Harpies until they're defeated.

My search for Rasputin is pretty much in vein. He's no where near and I do not feel his cold dark presence. He's further into the darkness. If anything, he's probably in that Chaos Mountain area. That's where we last encountered each other.

I enter the Upper zone of the Realm of Darkness. This time, there's no barrier up. I hope from island to island, making my way to the circular area. Once I arrive there, the barrier appears and endless amounts of Heartless appears.

I grunt in annoyance then summon my Keyblade. "This again?"

I start off with casting Magnega, which casters all of the Heartless, then I cast Chaotic Fusion. The two spells defeats the next three waves of Heartless, since they're nothing but the weak Shadow's. All those kills causes me to enter Star Surge. I cast Thundaja then Quakeja. Just those two spells takes out waves four and five. Now things get tougher when Darkballs starts appearing.

I enter Elemental Mastery, then continue attacking the Heartless. The Darkballs were a mix of an easy hit and a difficult battle. They constantly turn into mists and reappear so close to me, it hurts. I strike them down with Shadow Dash. That destroys them.

"Too slow, creatures!" I say.

The Seventh wave appears. Now it's mostly Darkballs and Neoshadows. I attack them by casting Falling Stars, that wipes out half the enemies, then I enter Twilight's Dawn. I gather the Heartless with Magnega then start attacking ferociously at them. My attacks takes out this wave then the next. When the magnet spell wears off, I cast another Magnega.

At the tenth wave, I reach my full power and unleash Twilights Dawn. That command style takes out the next two waves. Wave thirteen have some Invisibles, they are a tough fight. I subdue them by casting Zero Gravija, then attack them.

This fight goes on for a while. When I got to the final wave, fifteen, it was nothing but Invisible. As if one to five was hard enough, now I have to face dozens of them. Perfect...just perfect.

The Invisibles does some crazy damage to me. The second I get the moment, I gather them with Magnega, then quickly heal myself with Curaga. I do a combo of Firaja, Thundaja then Aeroja to take on the Invisibles, enter Spell Weaver, and then destroy them.

The barrier depletes until it's completely gone. I catch my breath then sigh. "I swear, if that Dark Hide appears in the next area, I'm gonna lose it."

I continue on ahead into the Valley of Darkness. When I arrive, there's no Dark Hide, thank the light, but more Heartless. The waves are pretty big, but nothing as painful as the barrier Heartless I just endured. I attack them in my Spell Weaver strikes, then cast Sparkja. By the time I defeat them, I enter Heaven's Light. The next wave appears, great, there are more waves of Heartless.

Neoshadows and Harpies strike, but I dodge, avoiding the attacks, then I strike them down until I unleash Heaven's Light. That destroys the wave, thank goodness no more appears.

* * *

After making through the Valley of Darkness, I go all the way to the Dark Margin. The path that connects all the way to the mountains is still here. That's certainly a surprise. I make my way to the Chaos Mountain. When I arrive, I start going uphill on the trail.

So far, there are no Heartless encountered here. that's strange, even since I do not feel Rasputin nearby. As I move further ahead to the mouth, I get more cautious. When I make it to the top, I jump right inside. The area is still bright from the light I casted to brighten the darkness.

I look around. There's no sign of Rasputin. "Where could he be?"

Rasputin is no where to be found. It's almost like he's no longer in the dark realm. I look ahead, to the other end of the room by the prison room that held Ragnarok in place. In front of that gate is Izu, with his large battle axe planted by his side.

I stand thirty yards away from Izu, looking at him. "So, you've defeated Zaela. Humph...How surprising."

"Why? Cause you thought she would beat me?" I ask.

"Perhaps. My other choice was that she lost but manage to break most of your bones." Izu says.

"She's a toughie, I'll give her that." I say. "She could use a few manners."

Izu nods. "Indeed. Her mouth is like a junkyard. Nothing but trash talk."

I raise an eyebrow hearing that. "Didn't expect you to say that." I cross my arms. "Tell me, is she always like that?"

Izu shook his head. "No. She use to be caring, much like that Aerith friend of yours. But then she lost her home and family to the Heartless." That's gotta be rough. No wonder Zaela is horrible. "Have you ever wondered how it's possible for her to control the Nobodies?"

No, that thought never acquired to me. It probably should have. Only greater Nobodies can command the lesser ones. Zaela is a human, obviously. How did that slip my mind? "No. How?"

"It's because her sister was a Nobody." Izu says. "She cared so deeply for her little sister, Reneal. Then she turned into a Heartless and her Nobody was destroyed by you and Sora."

"Reneal?" I ask.

"You only know her by her Nobody name: Larxene." Izu says.

That completely catches me by surprise. Zaela is the sister of Larxene of Organzation XIII? Then again, it is possible. Zaela is just as aggressive at Larxene.

"And let me guess. She joined the Shadowmoon cause she wants revenge for killing her sister?" I ask.

Izu smirks. "Correct. You sure are a fast learner."

"Glad for you to notice. What I want to know is why are you with the Shadowmoon?" I ask.

"I've hated the LeiShens since I was little. I was once in a proud clan called the Burning Blade. Our goal was to rule all worlds. Your father and his warriors raided my village and destroyed us." Izu says. "You have no idea what it's like for a child to see his home and family burn right before your eyes."

I cross my arms giving him the look that means that I obviously do. "Oh, I don't understand? Did you forget Rasputin took away my home and family sixteen years ago?"

"I am aware. But you still have a home and family. First it was Aqua and her friends, now its your friends in Radiant Garden." Izu says. "Now. Enough talk." Izu grabs his axe then holds it out in front of him, with the weapon enhanced in flames. "I shall burn your rioting flesh!"

I summon my Keyblade. "Come and try."

Izu charges towards me and swings his axe. I duck, avoiding the attack, then I strike him back. Izu stumbles back from the attack. He growls then strikes at me. I parry his attacks then counterattack only to have them dodged. I cast Waterja, only Izu slides back to avoid the attack, then draws his axe back, charging in flare.

"I will burn you into oblivion!" Izu says, doing Lavawave. He slams his axe, unleashing a shockwave of lava in front of him, aiming directly at me.

I dodge right out of the way. "You're gonna have to do better then that." I use the Elsa Charm, activating the D-link. I start by casting Icicle Tundra, holding my Keyblade back over my head then smash it to the ground, sending a rave of icicles towards Izu. Izu didn't take the cold very well. Guessing he's wait against it.

I attack with my freezing strikes, then cast Blizzaja. Izu blocks the Blizzaja by swiping it with his molten axe. Izu raises his axe, channeling black magic. "Behold the power of the Burning Blade!"

Izu vanishes, then four copies of him appears all around. This is surprising. Each of the Izu's spins around at high speed, unleashing countless fiery blade beams. I start dodging the fire beams, until I'm in the center of the copies then I unleash Snownado. The tornado of snow gets rid of the copies, revealing the real Izu.

Izu and I fight each other, his molten swings and my cold strikes. A fusion clash of hot and cold. When we draw our weapons back, he prepares another Lavawave. The second he unleashes it, I leap back and do a Freezing Raid midair. Izu couldn't defend himself or avoid the attack.

Izu growls. "You will burn!" Izu does molten leap, his weapon enhanced in lava then he leaps towards me. I dodge out of the way, then he slams to the ground, unleashing a burst of lava from impact.

When it settles down, I cast freeze, causing him to be frozen in a block of ice. Then I reach my full power and unleash Let It Go. That defeats Izu.

Izu drops his axe, cause causes a loud thud, then he collapses to his knees, a hand on his chest. Izu breaths heavily, a hand on his chest. I approach Izu, looking down at him.

"Tell me. Where is that coward Rasputin hiding?" I say.

Izu looks up at me, groaning. "You...are a fool." He pauses for a moment, then he raises a hand out casting dark magic. I turn to see a small rift open. "Go...dive into...the depths of the blackest abyss." I turn looking back at Izu. "It's bitter cold...embrace...awaits you."

Izu falls back, laying dead, then starts fading away. Even after he's gone, I still look at where he use to be. After having enough, I turn and start walking into the rift.

* * *

The portal Izu opened up was certainly strange. It lends me to nowhere but some temporal realm. There's nothing but space and shimmering rays of light. "What is this place?" I ask.

The island I stand on is very large, probably as much as that arena in Chaos Mountain.

When I walk to the center, I stop. Up ahead is another rift portal. I focus on it, the presence I feel is cold and dark. Just like Rasputin. He's in there. I know it.

I take a step forward, only the second I do, I feel something off. My hunch is correct, Nobodies, Heartless and Unversed appears, completely surrounding me. I summon my Keyblade, positioned to fight. "He really wants me dead, doesn't he?" I ask.

I cast Zero Gravija to send them in the air, then I start attacking the creatures. The Nobodies and Heartless that are not under the affects of the gravity spell starts attacking me. My attacks causes them to get hit and stagger. Only few manage to hurt me.

I next gather them with Magnega then crush them with Siegebreaker, my weapon enhanced in earth them slam it to the ground in a giga impact. Then I enter Critical Impact. My brutal attacks kill each enemy I strike, but that doesn't help with my situation. Each Heartless, Nobody or Unversed I slay, more appears.

The magnet spell ends then things get tougher. They come all around me, eventually having me piled. I struggle to move my arm or cast any sorts of magic. Perhaps this is the end.

My vision blacks, until a shimmer of light appears then brightens all the darkness. Next thing I know, I'm back in the mysterious realm, and all of the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed within ten yards are defeated.

A hand reaches down for me. "You okay?" I'm surprised that someone else is in this empty realm, but when I look up I'm speechless. It's Eraqus.

"Ma...master Eraqus?" I take his hand and he helps me stand. "What are you doing here?"

"I am not. I am only a memorial spirit you created." Eraqus says.

"I'm well aware, but still. What are you doing here?" I say.

"My propose of existence is to protect Ventus while he sleeps in Castle Oblivion. But now he is awake, I have nothing left." Eraqus says.

I'm silent. It's true. I created Eraqus only to protect Ventus while I find a way to bring Aqua out of the darkness. "Look out!" Eraqus swings his Keyblade, I quickly duck and his swing hits the Howling Moon Heartless that leaped towards me. I stand back up, and Eraqus and I are positioned to fight. "Perhaps this isn't a good time for a conversation."

"Agreed." I say.

Eraqus and I fight with all our might against the forces of darkness. I cut them down with my Keyblade while Eraqus supports me from behind. Eraqus is powerful with his light abilities. "The darkness will die!" Eraqus casts as he channels Chains of Faith, chain arrows rain down the sky impaling the ground.

Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed still have use surrounded and more appears in the dead ones place. Eraqus and I performed a powerful twilight spell, Light's Will and Shadow's Blade. Eraqus leaps in the air, I stand beneath him. Eraqus launches dozens of Keyblades, with light chains attached at the end, they impale all over the field. I aim my Keyblade at Eraqus, shooting a dark beam. The Darkness divids, travels through each of the chains, when causes the Keyblades to explode when they reach them.

That takes care most of the enemies, but they quickly reappear.

Eraqus and I are back to back, completely surrounded. "This is not good." I say.

"There are too many of them. We can't defeat them all." Eraqus says.

I look past the enemies, to the rift at the other end. "I need to get to Rasputin."

"Then go." I turn, looking at Eraqus. "I will hold of them."

"But...master Eraqus, you can't-" I quickly become interrupted.

"I must! I can no longer live on in any worlds." Eraqus says. "Patrick...Please, protect my pupils." Eraqus looks down in shame. "And also...tell Ventus and Terra...I am sorry." A tear slides down on Eraqus's eye.

I can see what he means. He feels guilty about trying to destroy Ventus and fighting against Terra. For choosing the path of darkness. All just to stop Xehanort from recreating the Keyblade War. Eraqus does a lightwave, at the direction of the rift, which clears a path.

"Go! NOW!" Eraqus grabs me then pushes me in that direction. I make it all the way to the rift, then Eraqus casts a barrier of light, sealing me in. For his final stand, Eraqus yells and charges directly at the enemies.

When he's close, he strikes the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed down. I stay back and watch him risk his life out in the dark battle. Berserkers starts assaulting Eraqus from behind. He quickly turns and cuts them down. All at once, the Dusks, Neoshadows and Flood's leaps towards Eraqus. Eraqus starts channeling light energy, getting stronger and stronger by the second. I am surprised by the sight as well.

"FOR THE LIGHT!" Eraqus shouts as he unleashes Ultimate Explosion. The whole island is sealed in a large dome of light then a massive explosion happens.

The island still stands, or floats I should say, but when it all clears, I'm the only on that survived the explosion. That completely shocks me. Eraqus sacrificed himself to protect me. He is not just gone physically, but also spiritually.

Now is not the time to be in remorse. I will not let his sacrifice go in vein.

I stand, turn and head into the dark rift. Whatever forces of darks lays beyond this dark abyss, I will conquer it.


	47. A Broken World

**A/N: Vanitas. Zaela. And now Izu. I wonder who's next in line. I'm guessing Rasputin's next since there's no other member of the Shadowmoon left alive...wait, aren't I forgetting something? ...Oh who am I kidding? I never forget anything. Oh no! I forgot to turn off the stove! *Bolts off***

World: The Forsaken Void

* * *

I wonder through the rift portal. It's nothing but a large swirl of darkness, just the route from Hollow Bastion to the End of the World when Sora had to face Xehanort's Heartless.

I don't know how far or how deep into the darkness I am going. There's a good chance that I may never return to my home. My family...Aqua. But this is for the best. Once I defeat Rasputin, all the worlds will be at peace. Maybe not since Xehanort is still out there, but they will be one step closer. That's for certain.

Soon enough, I have reached the end of this tunnel. The whole thing shimmers and shapes. Soon enough, everything clears up. I stop to take a look around, only I wish I haven't come to this place.

Everything is nothing more then large, empty realm. The bottom is an endless purple abyss while the skies are black. The only thing in this empty realm is seven large islands. Each of them carrying a part of a village in a broken world, all in a gravitational form of a small planet. And in the center, like the very core of the world, is the large island the holds the LeiShen kingdom.

"This...this is..." I drop on my knees. I am breathless, gazing at the broken, destroyed world. I reach my arm out. "My home."

My world, the one I was born in, is now nothing more...then a Forsaken Void.

My breaths a shakey and horrified. My heart aching in sorrow. Eyes filled with tears. Right in front of me is my home world. And it's not a memorial illusion under Castle Oblivions power. It's all real. And that's the worst part of returning to my home world. This world is broken, destroyed, forsaken.

I'm about to break down into despair, but then I remember something Zaela says.

'You would give into despair, eventually crushing your spirit into teeny-tiny little pieces'

I can't give up. This is what Rasputin wants. For me to give in to my own despair. I get back on my feet, take a look at where I am at. Right now, I'm just on a small island where the portal takes place. Right in front of me, there's a blue orb that possesses dark energy.

I approach the orb and touch it. Next thing I know, I turn into a shadow mist and rush towards the next island.

The island I appear on is the Village area, or what's left of the village. There's nothing but crumbling buildings and large pebbles and stone on the shattered grounds. There are hardly any walls left for these buildings. And out of all the dozens of them, only about two or three windows are still in place on the houses, and one of them are glassless while the others are shattered.

I slowly walk by this forsaken town. This place is where the citizens of the kingdom lived. All of them were destroyed because of that monster Rasputin.

As I wonder, Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed appears. All three of them. Only those that appeared are the most powerful: Defenders, Morning Stars, Berserkers, Dawn's and Fat Ninjas, which are Nobodies that are a mix of sumo-wrestlers and ninjas. A sumo-ninja you might say.

I focus on the Fat Ninjas. The bigger they are, the harder they fall after all. I couldn't attack them from the front, just like the Large Bellies, so I focus attacking them from behind or by using magic. The other enemies focus on attacking me. I dodge out of the way and subdue them with Zero Gravija. Once they're handled, I continue attacking the Fat Ninjas until they are destroyed.

After destroying the Fat Ninjas, I finish off the rest of the dark forces. After defeating them, I continue wondering around. I remember the villagers, they were very kind whenever I played around here.

I made it to the end of the island, where another orb of darkness awaits. I touch the orb and it transports me to the next island.

The next island is a dead park. I remember this part of my world. It was a wide open grassfield with benches and a swing hanging from the tree branch. Now it's nothing more then a dead grassless field with a dead tree that's half the size it use to be, and the only branch on it is the one that use to hold the swing.

I run into some Heartless and Unversed. Invisibles, Angel Stars, Wild Bruisers and Dawn's. I start off with doing Strike Raid, then Sonic Blade shortly afterwards. That takes care of the Wild Bruisers, then I enter Fever Pitch. I jump and start attacking the Angel Stars. Two of them start charging holy energy. I cast Aeroja, which interrupts one of them, and destroys that Angel Star and the Dawns.

The Invisibles attacks hard. I could only block the dark razor blades with my holy shield. The spirit rituals is done, there's no avoiding that kind of damage. When those Invisibles return, I strike them down with my Shadow Dash. Even though there's no more enemies left, it causes me to enter Black Maelstrom.

I approach to the tree, until I'm right in front of it. I put a hand on it. The tree feels lifeless. "I remember my real mother use to take me here."

It is true. I still remember, back when I was five. She took me to the park, I play on the swing while she pushes me. Memories start flashing back as I travel through this broken world. The beauty that once washed over this world is all destroyed, shattered, consumed by the darkness.

After taking my moment in memory lane, I continue onward.

I use the dark orb at the end of the island to transport me to the next island. This is the third island. All there is here is a destroyed Cathedral. The building use to be large, but it's mostly destroyed. There's no more roof on the inside and the walls are gone from the front.

I don't really remember coming here, probably cause I was too young to go to a church or something. Who knows?

Nobodies appears on this island, and I strike them down. The Dusks weave around to avoiding my attacks and attack me back. I took some the hits, the rest I block with my holy shield then I counter with Counter Aura.

It feels a bit weird doing the power of darkness on the holy ground, even if the church is destroyed.

As soon as I destroyed the Nobodies, another wave of them appears. I get them with Magnega then do Ragnarok. That destroys the Dancers, thank goodness. When that was done, I unleash Black Maelstrom. That finishes off the Nobodies here. With that done, I move on ahead.

I reach to the next dark orb at the other end of the Cathedral Courtyard, then become transported to the next island. The next island is a forest of some sort. All there is are dead, leafless trees. Some are close, many are far apart. Probably cause there use to be other trees in between one another.

Heartless and Unversed appears in here. They are blocking my way, especially the Defenders. I knock the Defenders in the air with Quakeja, then blow them away with Aeroja. A mix of earth and air. How interesting.

I start attacking the Defenders when they fall to the ground. I be quick with my attacks before they have the chance to get up and return to their defensive positions. Shadow Screechers unleashes a deafening screech. That cause me to stagger quite a lot.

Once I recover, I heal with Curaga. "Heal!" then do Barrage. That finishes off the last of the Defenders. The Shadow Screechers charges at me. I dodge each of their attacks. Some of them, I strike while dodging. Soon enough, I defeat the Shadow Screechers.

I get a good look at the woods here. "This place...was this...?" Thinking back, deep within my memories, I remember going into a forest. At night, it's enlighten in midnight and enchanted glows. Was this place those woods?

My mother and father use to tell me they first met each other in these woods. They come here every year on their anniversary.

I hardly got to know them very well, yet I already miss them.

Once I'm done thinking back, I use the dark orb to travel to the next island. The fifth island seems to be some kind of beach. There's no sand, but cracked grounds, and the western part of the island is covered in purple liquid.

I remember this part, but it's hard to imagine the whole thing. This must be the beach I visited on the summer before Rasputin invaded my home. I use to make sand castles with the other kids, especially my friend Lauren. Lauren was a child from one of the villagers. I don't really remember of who, but I think the villager was someone close to my mother.

Nothing but Unverses appears on this island. So I take them down. The Floods are a joke, but the Dawn's, Triple Wreckers and Wild Bruisers are tough. I focus on a Wild Bruiser as I do Ars Arcanum. The Wild Bruiser dies halfway, the rest of my attack takes out another one then a Triple Wrecker.

The Dawns impales their spears at me. I dodge each of the attacks. The last one was pretty closer, shaved of inches of my hair.

"Oh it's on!" I say.

I strike hard at the Dawn's, they only manage to block and parry the first few strikes. My Keyblade swings heavily, breaking through their weapons and shields. When they're vulnerable, I destroy them.

When the Dawn's are finish, I focus on taking care of the Triple Wreckers and the last Wild Bruiser. I defeat the Unversed, then I use to dark orb at the other end to transport to the next island.

The next island I couldn't make out. But it almost looks like some kind of training area. It's surrounded by a large square shaped courtyard, the walls are very much damaged and all there is in this training courtyard are half a dozen practice dummies, four of them damaged beyond repair. A big pit with spikes on the bottom, with ropes hanging above it, one of them tied to a large boulder. A station for practicing magic. A ring where I assume is for live combat practice.

I've never really been here, this area is certainly unfamiliar to me. I was a child back then, no way they would allow a child to be wondering off on hardcore training grounds.

Nobodies, Unversed and Heartless appears. It's a large army, but that doesn't stop me. I start off with Zero Gravija. That hits all the enemies, however only the Large Bellies, Wild Bruisers and Fat Ninjas remain unharmed by the gravity effects. To take care of the large ones, I cast Firaga Burst.

Hundreds of firebolts rain down against the enemies. Those with the zero gravity effect ends up spinning out of control. I enter Spell Weaver and attack the enemies. The Wild Bruisers are defeated, and the gravity wears off. I gather enemies with Magnega then do Falling Star when they're all gathered.

Half of the enemies are defeated, then I finish the rest of them with Spell Weaver. Once they are done, I go to the end of the courtyard, where a large red orb awaits. I touch the orb, it transports me like the other dark orbs, only it takes me to the last island at the very core of this broken world.

* * *

I arrive at the very end of the bridge. I look up at the castle. After all these years, I return to my home. Not only that, but I can feel the cold dark presence Rasputin possesses. It's coming straight from the castle. He's here all right.

I sigh through my nose, slightly look down while grabbing hold of my Wayfinder. I remember what Aqua told us when she made these.

'As long as we have this unbreakable connection, we'll always be together.'

"Aqua...Terra...Ven. Lend me your power one last time." I look up, directly at the castle. "I'm going to face a powerful darkness. Be there for me. Give me the strength to banish this evil."

I drop my hand after letting go of the Wayfinder, then I march my way across the bridge, into the castle.

Once I cross the gates, I arrive at the courtyard. The courtyard is pretty large. I remember this area use to be a lovely garden. But how all the grass are black and dead.

I stand in the center as I look on top of the castle gates. Sitting on the ledge is Wingul, legs crossed, looking down at me.

"So you made it this far...Quite impressive, but nothing less I except from a LeiShen." Wingul says.

Wingul stands on his feet on the ledge, then jumps right on the front steps of the castle. I just stand there, watching Wingul. "I assume you're not gonna let me pass."

"Of course not. You know very well why I stand before you." Wingul says.

"I am well aware." I say.

"So...tell me. How does it feel to be home after all these years?" Wingul says. "You must be having mixed emotions after being away from home for so long, and then come back to see it's become the broken world it is now."

I see what he's trying to do. He wants me to drown in despair so my spirit would break. Zaela should have learned to keep her mouth shut.

"I'll admit. I'm happy that I am home. And I am sad at what it has become. But none of that matters." I put a hand over my chest, on my heart. "I have a new home. A new family. Aqua my mother, Serah my sister, and Ventus and Terra. Sora, Donald and Goofy. Leon and the gang! My are my friends. My family, and my power!"

Wingul makes no change in expression. Just stays that plain face he always make. "Bold. As expected."

"Now...you tell me. Everyone else had their reasons working with Rasputin What's yours?" I ask.

Wingul is silent at first, then speaks. "Let's just say I owe him my life." Wingul looks up, directly at the black sky. "Years ago, when I was a child, my family was taken out by a group of bandits. They would have kill me, but then Rasputin subdued them."

I raise an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like him."

"This was back when he served the LeiShens. Before he was betrayed." Wingul says. Yeah. That's what happened. 'Betrayed'. "I'll admit, he has lost his mind in many ways. Starting with the idea of sending that Ragnarok Heartless on you."

"What about that night when he destroyed the LeiShens?" I ask

"It was a difficult time for me. The day I saw him kill the innocent. He is not the Rasputin I once knew." Wingul says. After hearing all of that, I begin to wonder why he's still serving Rasputin. "No matter to that. I will not allow you to come near to my lord."

Wingul channels powerful arcane magic. His power causes the very island to shake. I stand my ground, Keyblade summoned. Ready for anything that might come at me. Just then, the ground of the courtyard turns into a checkerboard of black and violet.

"And now!" Wingul teleports back to the ledge, and summons giant chess pieces to the board. two Rooks, a knight and four pawns. "Let the games...begin!"


	48. Home of the LeiShens

**A/N: Wingul's battle is pretty interesting. As far as you guys could see of course. But you'll see more in this chapter. A chess battle. Quite an interest. But beside that, I am one step closer to getting to Rasputin. How far can I go before the Darkness becomes overwhelming?**

World: The Forsaken Void

* * *

The Knight stomps on the board, and I dodge roll out of the way, landing in front of the Pawn. I do a couple of strikes on the one Pawn, destroying it.

Wingul just sits on top of the ledge, watching his magical chess pieces move around while I fight them. He gazes down fingers on his chin. He's barely impressed by the fight. After taking down one Pawn and a Rook, I enter Critical Impact then strike viciously at the next Pawn.

"This little game could use a little...improvement." Wingful holds his hand out, channeling arcane energy.

Wingful unleashes his power. Three arcane bolts rain down on the field. They stick to the ground like bricks landing on soft grass. That can't be good. The bolts grow larger and larger, until they're twice the size then they explode. Luckily I wasn't anywhere near them, so I didn't get hurt.

I cast Sparkja, destroying a Pawn and the other Rook. Now it's just down to a knight and two pawns. I focus on the one Pawn. The other move slide towards me. Once it's close, it attacks. I staggered a bit, but after the strike I swing my weapon hard at the Pawn that stroke me. The Knight and Pawn stand close, that's when I do Shadow Dash.

I enter Black Maelstrom.

The Pawn and Knight falls. Wingul's little chess game comes to a halt. "It seems the king is tougher then I thought." Wingul stands, draws out his sword, then jumps into the field.

Wingul doesn't fight much, I strike him hard with my dark strikes and shadow reflects. Wingul staggers a lot from the attacks. Whenever he gets the moment, he strikes at me. He's pretty good with a sword for a spell caster. For his finish move, he swings his sword sending a blade beam of arcane energy at me.

I dodge the beam then strike at Wingul then do Falling Stars. Falling Stars causes me to enter Twilight's Dawn. Wingul has had enough damage. "You are but a pawn to the game!"

Wingul teleports back to the ledge. On the field board, six pawns, two rooks, a Bishop and a Knight appears. The battle is certainly getting tough. I gather them with Magnega. They didn't gather in the magnet, but draws closer. Then I unleash Blade Storm, holding my arms around and spinning at high speed in twilight energy. My attack destroys four Pawns and a Rook. The rest survives but are pretty weak from the attack.

"Perhaps a strategy to enlighten the field." Wingul channels arcane magic. Five beams rain down from Wingul's direction and they burst into energy. The beams weaves through the field. I focus on dodging the beams since they are pretty powerful.

The beams lasts a couple of seconds then they vanish.

I attack the rest of the Chess pieces. The Rook and the rest of the Pawns falls. Just leaves the Knight and Bishop. The Bishop does a healing magic on itself. I never knew a chest piece could even do magic like that. Now I know I have to down the Bishops or the fight is going to be long and even harder.

I strike crazy at the Bishop until it falls, then I finish off the Knight. Wingul joins the battle once again. "Quite a strategy. You are indeed a worthy opponent."

Wingul attacks me by casing Arcane Barrage, shooting bolts of energy at me. I do Starburst Stream on him. He staggers quite a lot from that attack. Once it ends, he quickly recovers and attacks me. I parry his attacks then counterattack him.

Wingul teleports back to the ledge. "The king will not be defeated so easily."

On the chess field, all of the chess pieces have been summoned. All minus the king. The wall of Pawns stands in my way so I strike them down. The rooks and Knights surrounds me. I become aware of the chess pieces. Just as they all charge to me at once, I jump high. They end up ramming at each other.

Midair, I gather energy and unleash a dozen of razor winds, six of light and six in darkness. Twilight Winds. The Twilight Winds destroys the Bishop and Rook. The Knight and Rook comes at me when I land. I dodge out of the way, only to be hit by the Queen from a fast charge.

"How about a little change of plans?" Wingul asks. He blasts an arcane orb in the sky.

I fight and dodge each of the remaining chess pieces. I do Soulstroke Spin. That's when arcane bolts rain down from the sky. I remain focused on my attack for the arcane bolts didn't cause me to stagger. Not once. But it still hurts.

A Bishop, two Knights, a Rook and the Queen remains.

I heal myself with Curaga. "HEAL!" Then I continue attacking until I unleash Twilight's Dawn. The pieces went down quickly, except for the Queen. It's not surprise she's...err, it's the strongest. By the final blow, the Queen falls.

"I guess it's now time for a checkmate." Wingul stands then jumps into the field.

We now stand against each other. I make the first strike. Wingul parries my attack then counterstrike with swift swings. "Why do you still fight? You have lost everything! You're home! Your family! All of the people who cared about you."

During the conversation, I strike Wingul several times, only to have them either parried, blocked or dodged. "Think again! Sure, I have left everything in the past. But none of that matters! If there's one thing I learn, I must move forward, into the future! Where I have a new home and a new family!"

My final strike disarms Wingul, sending his sword flying in the air. He looks up, surprised. For the first tike, he actually made an expression. Then he looks back at me when I start attacking him.

My Keyblade breaks Wingul's skin. The man staggers a lot from the attacks. For my final blow, I jump back, draw my Keyblade back, then do an instant rush attack.

Wingul stands, frozen from the blow. I remain positioned as i have at the end of my attack. Finally, Wingul drops to his knees, then to his hands gasping.

"My lord...I have failed you." Wingul loses his strength and ends up collasping on the ground.

I just look at Wingul over my shoulder. My Keyblade vanishes then I walk towards the castle. When I'm up the steps, Wingul calls out to me.

"Turn back...while you still can." Wingul says.

I don't turn when I step. "You still think I'm a coward, aren't you?"

"No..." Wingul coughs as he gasps for air. "I'm trying...to protect you...from him. You don't know...what you're up against. My lord...has powers...far beyond yours...and your kind." I say nothing. His words cannot stop me. I know the Shadowmoon very well. He's trying to deceive me. I keep going, until I stop in front of the large doors. I open one of them and enter the castle.

Wingul stays behind. He looks back down to the ground. "You...have been warned...LeiShen."

Wingul loses consciousness as he draws his final breath.

* * *

The Foyer is pretty large, just like I remembered. Only it's not as colorful as it use to be. Was once was a large ember and golden room engulfed in multiple colors of the memorial windows is now gray with purple light coming from the shattered windows.

What I said to Wingul is true indeed. Only it's hard to move forward with the scars of the dark past staring right in front of you when you see it for the very first time. But I know that I can't back down. I must defeat Rasputin.

I walk down the Foyer. There are no enemies encountered.

All there is in this abandoned castle are five hallways. One of them up ahead at the top of the first set of stair cases, sealed shut. I approach the door, putting my hand on it. I can feel cold darkness behind it. Rasputin is behind this door, I know it. But how do I open it?

Right in front of the door, I find a scepter, with three shorter scepters surrounding it, in the form of a triangle. I read the plaque in front of it.

"Each clan of the dark shall gather forth to destroy the LeiShen. Bring forth the fragments of the darkness and the path shall open."

I'm not entirely sure what it means, but I figured I should take a look around this castle. I start going into the lower west hallway. The hallway is just a long passage, filled with suits of armor much like Beasts Castle, only many of the armors are either disappeared or missing pieces.

In this hallway, I encounter Heartless. Soldiers, Neoshadow's, Darkballs and Morning Stars. If the Heartless thinks they can stop me after coming this far, they are sadly mistaking. I cast Zero Gravija to send them in the air, then blow them away with Aeroja.

Once the path is clear, I keep moving onward. There are a lot of crumbling ruins in this hallway. Many of the rooms and paths are blocked, a lot from a large pillar. that's tumbled down like a tree. The second wave of Heartless appears when I'm close to the next room ahead.

I strike the Heartless with my Keyblade. I destroy the Wizard then do Siegebreaker, doing a heavy slam on the Morning Star with my Keyblade. It destroys the Heartless in a single strike. I enter Critical Impact from that attack. The rest of the Heartless fell easily.

The next room I enter appears to be some kind of sorcerers sanctum. It's filled with countless scrolls and books with a large planetarium in the center.

The Heartless in here is countless hordes of Wizards, Red Nocturne, Blue Rhapsody, Yellow Opera, Indigo Anchor: A sea blue Heartless that casts water bolts, Crimson Jazz, Silver Rock and Emerald Blues. Figures all of the Heartless would be spell casters.

During this battle, I can't relay on magic other then my Magnet and Zero Gravity spells. I focus using brute force abilities, even since their defenses are pretty weak. Because of that, the Heartless went down quickly, even through more kept appearing to take their place.

It takes a while to defeat all of the Heartless in this area. After their defeat, an artifact appears at the end of the room. It's shaped of the Heartless logo. I think these is what I need to open the sealed door.

I return quickly back to the foyer and put the Heartless Fragment on one of the lower scepter. The Scepter pulses with energy from the fragment. That seems to work.

One down. Three to go.

I next enter the lower east hallway. This one has Gargoyles. Many broken or destroyed. This hallway is filled with Unversed. I use my Aqua charm to activate the D-linking, then I take on the Unversed. The Shadow Screechers were the first to go, then I handle the rest.

The Unversed was not challenge in this hallway. No different from the Heartless anyway. If Rasputin is either trying to kill me or keep me away from him, he's doing a terrible job then. The hallway was long and I ran into three groups of the Unversed. I even unleashed my D-link power on the last wave.

At the end of the hallway, I wound up in the castle grounds that seems like a backyard. It's pretty large with hedges on the each of the paths. The whole thing is like a massive, and all of the grass and hedges are dead gray instead of lively green. In the center of the yard is a dead tree. I'm guessing that could be a cherry blossom tree, an explanation to how I could have had a memory attack from the one I saw at Mulan's house.

I follow the path until I reach the dead blossom tree. There, I encounter massive horde of Unversed. The Wild Bruisers charges towards me. I avoiding their attacks easily doing my Shadow Dash. The negative apes went down quickly. That just remains the Dawn's, Floods, and Archravens.

In the end, the Unversed are defeated, and an Unversed Fragment appears. I return to the Foyer and put it on one of the lower scepters.

The next place is the upper west hallway. On the walls are several paintings, many faded, some torn. If they were once worth quite a fortune, they are now priceless. And I don't mean really expensive priceless, I mean it's completely useless, not worth a single munny, not even worth being paid to take it, priceless!

This hallway is crawling with Nobodies. Only this time, the path here gets tough, even since I'm dealing with Berserkers and Fat Ninjas. My actions on these fights are mostly dodging. whenever I get the chance, I attack the empty husks.

Once they start falling, the fights get easier. In the end of the hallway, I arrive are some large room that's trashed. On the end is a king sized bed. The whole bed-frame seems pretty fancy. I'm guessing this must be the king and queen's bedroom. My parents.

Being here makes me miss them. I never got to know my parents very close, very well. All I had in my childhood is Aqua and her friends and master.

Nobodies appears. Saberon's, Sorcerers, Dusks and Grandmasters. There is just no end to these fights. That's how Rasputin plays alright.

Taking on the Nobodies here seemed endless with more of them appearing to take the place of the ones I slay. Most of them manages to hit me all right, I end up casting Curaga a few times. Finally, I made it to the end and gather the Nobody Fragment.

The Nobody Fragment gets placed in the last lower scepter. Now I just need one more. In the upper east hallway.

The upper east hallway. The hallway has banners with the LeiShen's logo on them. The banners are worn and torn. This hallway has all of the enemies. Heartless. Nobodies. Unversed. All working together.

This is not going to be pretty.

I attack the dark enemies swiftly. Avoiding them wasn't easy however. It's like whenever I dodge ones attack, I land right in front of a Wizards thunderbolt or blizzard barrage.

I finally made it to the end of the hallway, which leads me to some kind of large room. It's similar to the inside of a Cathedral, only at the end, it's some cauldron. All the scrolls and books on the shelves are dark powers and magic, some of them forbidden.

I got a bad feeling that this must be Rasputin's room.

Countless hordes of the darkness appears in this very room. The enemies here are pretty dangerous. I can only attack by containing them with Magnega or subduing them with Zero Gravija.

The entire battle lasts quite a while. It was as long and as annoying as enduring the 15 wave of Heartless in the Realm of Darkness, before encountering Dark Hide.

In the end, I'm on my knees, panting, using my Keyblade for support. An artifact appears right above the cauldron. It matches the eye necklace Rasputin wears. The Eye of Chaos. Once I regain my energy I grab the artifact and return to the Foyer.

I stand in front of the scepters, hesitating. Once I open this door, there's no turning back. I'm about to face the most powerful, most frightening foe, I have ever seen. Taking a deep breath, I place the fragment on the scepter. the whole thing glows as dark energies pulses through it.

The sealed doors slowly opens. I stand against it with pride. Once it's open, I walk right in. "Let us finish this."


	49. Rasputin

**A/N: The time has come to me to settle a score with Rasputin. The final battle is here. How will this end? Will the darkness defeat the light? Or will the light overcome the darkness? Only one way to find out. Better grab some popcorn, cause it's about to get off in here!**

World: The Forsaken Void

* * *

My footsteps echo through out this large and empty chamber. The Audience Chamber is exactly how it is when I saw it in my memories at Castle Oblivion. However, it's still voidful colored like the rest of this castle, and all the banners hanging on the walls have a big X painted over the logo.

I start walking down the chamber, heading towards the throne. He is there, sitting upon it like some king, especially with my fathers crown resting on top his head. Who does he think he is? Making himself king?

Rasputin looks down at me as I approach. I stop once I'm like in front of the steps, looking at Rasputin with anger.

"You have come this far. This deep into the darkness. Hmm..." Rasputin smirks. "Such wondrous power you carry. To think a single LeiShen had the power to defeat the most powerful Heartless ever created. Dive into the Dark Realm to save a friend, and fight through thousands of dark forces to make it back to his own home."

Rasputin chuckles. "You must answer for your crimes, traitor."

Rasputin smile disappears. "I am not the traitor!" Rasputin stands up from the throne. "Its your people who are the real traitors! I was once the most mystical man in the kingdom! But then the LeiShens betrayed me and put me on exile! I was banished from all worlds, imprisoned in the Realm of Darkness itself."

"Then how did you escape?" I ask.

"Xehanort has given me the power to leave the darkness. However, I could only temporary leave the darkness. Not until I destroy all of the LeiShens, then the power will be complete and I shall be free from my prison." Rasputin says.

"I suppose that explains how you got dragged into darkness before you had the chance to destroy me." I say.

"Indeed, child." Rasputin says. "Tell me. How does it feel to be back home after all these years?" I see what Rasputin's trying to do. He's trying to psych me out. Make me lose my focus so he can kill me. "Do you miss your people...don't you really regret leaving them all behind. Forsaken. Destroyed. Not to mention killing them when they became Ragnarok!"

"I know what you're trying to do, you're not going to fool me." I say. "You are a monster, Rasputin. You use to serve the light. But then you turned to the darkness. All for what? Power! Because of your own actions, the LeiShens banished you. You blame them for your own misery because you refuse to see the actions of your own behavior."

Rasputin is silent. He doesn't say anything for a while. Then he finally speaks. "You remind me so much of your arrogant father. You're a fool just like he is. The light is weak! Darkness is all power!" Thunder strikes when he shouts 'power' "And I shall prove it to you! Now my dark purpose will be fulfilled and the last of the LeiShen's will DIE!"

Rasputin raises his hand, the Chaos Ripper Keyblade appears in his hand. Both the Keyblade and the Eye of Chaos pulses with dark energy. Six dark spires bursts out of the ground, surround me in a wide radius. The spires sparkle in dark electricity, sending bolts of lightning down at me.

I leap back, avoiding one of the bolts. Rasputin steps down from the throne, getting into position to summon. I glare at him, then summon my Keyblade and get into fighting position as well.

I start by charging at Rasputin. Rasputin parries my attack, but I give him an under cut afterwards. Rasputin staggers back from the attack and growls. He casts Duskga towards me. I block the dark spell with Holy Shield, then do a Strike Raid shortly afterwards.

Rasputing dodges the attack, only the incoming one. What he failed to realize is that the Keyblade would hurl back. End up getting hit by the return attack. I cast Quakeja, sending them flying in the air. I dodge more of the lightning spire. Rasputin charges towards me as I am dodging. I parry his on coming attack.

"Why do you serve the Light when you carry the power of darkness within you?" Rasputin asks.

"Light and Darkness are eternal! They cannot live without each other." I repel Rasputin's attack. "I keep my light and darkness balance. That's what makes me strong."

"Lies! Darkness is the true essence of power! And I shall prove it to you!" Rasputin holds his Keyblade up, channeling dark energy. The Keyblade absorbs the power within the spires. The spires crumble and fall apart. Rasputin is coated in darkness as the power flows through him.

In the end, he grows dark magic wings in the shape of demon wings, horns and claws. "Yes! Yes! This is true power! THE POWER OF THE DARKNESS!"

I shout as I charge towards Rasputin. Rasputin, how wielding his Keyblade with one hand, strikes. I duck and give him a slash. Rasputin didn't stagger much from that hit. He grabs me by the throat, dark magic pulsing through his hand. The darkness pains me, then he tosses me back.

I crash on the ground a couple of feet away. I get up quickly. I cast Firaja. The burning magic hits Rasputin, then I do Sonic Blade. I enter Fever Pitch in the end. Rasputin leaps towards me. "Die Leishen!" When he lands, he causes a small explosion of dark magic. Dark Dive.

I heal myself with Curaga then continue attacking Rasputin. I cast Shining Prism. Rasputin suffers a lot from it. I can tell that Rasputin is weakened by the light. After Shining Prism, I cast Explosion, then enter Heaven's Light.

Rasputin quickly recovers then does Dark Winds, which is similar to my Twilight Winds only with just darkness. I block with my Holy Shield, then I strike at Rasputin viciously. Rasputin blocks some of my attacks, then strikes me. I stagger some.

"Everything belongs to the darkness!" Rasputin says as he begins casting Dark Nova.

I dodge out of the way, then rush towards Rasputin with Shadow Dash. "Too slow!" Rasputin stands strong against that attack. Once I finish the Shadow Dash, he attacks me. I cast Halo to heal myself and hurt Rasputin, then I unleash Heaven's Light. That did a serious number on Rasputin.

I shout as I charge towards Rasputin. Rasputin charges back at me. Our weapons clash in the middle of the room. We glare into each other up close, then I shout and start pushing Rasputin with all my strength. I push him until I slam him against the throne.

"You are just a child! Swaggering around! Forgetting your own people! Wasting your life just to save a little girl from the darkness!" I know he's talking about Aqua. I would doubly call her 'little girl'. "You think you are clever? You're a fool!" Rasputin repels my weapon. He strikes at me twice. I dodge them then parry the third.

"No! You are the real fool!" I bark at him. "You think everything belongs to the darkness? All it does is cause misery and suffering! The light! It guides us! It protects us! You failed to see it all cause all you ever care about is power! You don't care about anyone or anything, not even about your own self being! You even sold your own soul! All for power!"

I shift my weapon and strike, disarming Rasputing, sending his Keyblade in the air. Rasputin looks at me surprise. "You want power?" I pull my Keyblade back, it charging in twilight energy. "I'll give you power!"

I yell in rage then jab my Keyblade, directly at his dark. Rasputin gasps in agony, as the twilight energy counters with his darkness. Rasputin yells as he starts melting. He slowly melts until he's nothing more then a black puddle.

"It's done." I step back, looking at the puddle. My Keyblade vanishes then I turn and walk away.

I have defeated Rasputin. The Shadowmoon are finish. Once I'm in the middle of the chamber, I freeze. Something is bugging me. I can still feel his cold dark presence. But that can't be. He's dead. I stabbed him right in the heart...Heart. Wait!

I have a horrible realization. I suddenly remember the conversation I had with Yen Sid. His words echo in my head:

'_The Eye of Chaos. A powerful trinket that grants its wearer unimaginable power. Rasputin sold his soul for this trinket. It is his very life essence._'

Very life essence...I didn't destroy that necklace. I only destroyed his heart. In fear, I turn around, looking up. Rasputin's Keyblade float right above the dark puddle. The Keyblade turns, aiming its tip down then dives into the puddle.

This is bad.

The very ground rumbles and darkness bursts out of the puddle. A deep, sinister laughter echoes.

"Foolish LeiShen!" Something starts rising out of the large darkness. It starts out with large horns. "Darkness is everywhere! Darkness is our strength!" Then a large demonic face. A large claw fist raises out them slams on the ground, the impact causes me to shake and fall. "All worlds began in darkness! Darkness is the true essence! Darkness is everything!"

The dark figure only raises above its waist. It's like thirty feet tell, red and dark. Fiery eyes. Large demon wings. Devil horns. All muscular. Wielding a large Keyblade that's read with horns at the tip. And right on its chess is the Eye of Chaos.

"Rasputin?" I say in a horrified gasp. He is no longer Rasputin.

"Death! Destruction! Darkness! The very cycle of life itself! I am Chaos! By my wrath: All worlds! Everyone! Will return to the darkness from where they once came!"

I get back on my feet, summon my Keyblade. Now I'm fighting for my very life against Chaos itself.

Chaos starts with Damnation. "Join with the rest of your people!" Chaos channels a large burning orb of dark fire in its hands, then slams it on the ground, exploding in black flames all over the Audience Chamber. Now I see why it's called Damnation. It hurts like hell.

For my first move, I heal myself with Curaga. Then I use my Kairi Charm, activating the D-link. I jump high until I reach the Eye of Chaos then I attack at the artifact, which is sticked to Chaos's chest like a tattoo. Chaos doesn't stagger at all. Even though he suffers the damage, he acts like he can barely feel it. That's probably normal since he's large and muscular. I'm probably a rat to him.

I cast Wateja then do Destiny's Light. Chaos draws his Keyblade back then attacks me with a heavy strike. that attack was so powerful, it interrupted my channeling on Destiny's Light. I have a feeling long spells or abilities isn't so much of a good idea to use. I next do Faith, then I jump to attack Chaos.

"Suffer!" Chaos cast Chains of Anguish. In all directions, chains of darkness shackles me in place. I can barely move, then lightning courses through them, electrifying me. Hurts very much, then I was knocked back after the chains release me.

I cast Curaga then run back to Chaos. I continue attacking Chaos, a couple of strikes and unleash Tidal Wave. Chaos casts Dark Firaja. The black flames burns me, but I still remain concentrated on unleashing my power.

I continue attacking Chaos. I star off with Shimmer Spin then cast Blizzaja. Chaos begins Heartless Angel. "Salvation is frail and weak!" Chaos just snaps his fingers from his free hand, then three black angels with heart-shaped holes in their chests circles around me, spinning as they channel their magic.

I enter Spell Weaver, attacking Chaos. The dark magic coats me from the black angels. I cast Aeroja, that's when the Heartless Angel spell is complete. I suffer majorly and all of my power was drained. Chaos chuckles with delight.

"The pitiful light you call upon is powerless against me, LeiShen. End this foolishness!" Chaos says.

I take out an elixir from my pocket and drink it, restoring my lost strength. "No! I will NEVER give into the darkness!"

I continue attacking Chaos. Chaos does his attack, but I dodge the attack. I cast Thundaja then do Gaia-Explosion. I enter Elemental Mastery, attacking high speed on Chaos. My strikes are vicious against the monster. Then Chaos casts another Damnation. "Your struggle is meaningless!"

After the massive attack, I heal myself with Curaga, then continue attacking Chaos. Soon enough I reach my full power and unleash Elemental Mastery. Chaos does Soul Corruption. "Bow down!"

My body is tainted with darkness, causing an interference with my powers. I mostly attack with just my Keyblade. Whenever I try casting magic or do an ability, they stop half way. For magic, the elements change to their opposites, like Quakeja does wind damage instead.

I use my Terra Charm, activating the D-linking. I figured this time I should fight darkness with darkness. I start by casting Dark Firaga then Duskja. The fight is pretty brutal. Chaos constantly casts his hell spells and attacks to try and kill me. I either avoid them or dodge them.

I next do Chaos Blade. That one is pretty helpful cause I was able to avoid Duskja on the fourth combo. Chaos does Hellish Abyss. "Hope does not exist!"

The ground crumbles, creating quakes and burning spike bursts out of it. I strike Chaos hard in the Eye of Chaos. I do Firestorm, unleashing a rave of blazing flames directly on Chao's chest. Soon after, I unleash my full power and do Dark Impulse.

The battle against Chaos is hard. I am beginning to weaken from energy loss. I am in the center of the Audiance Chamber, panting in exhaustion while dropping to one knee. Chaos laughs evilly. He channels dark magic, ultimate, powerful, forbidden dark magic. In his hands is a large black orb, with red lightning coursing through it.

It's the chaotic spell: Apocalypse.

Chaos holds the large orb above, causing the ceil to be covered in dark clouds. Thunder rumbles within those clouds, then chaos rushes his hands downwards, causing large bolts of red lightning to strike me. I shout in agony as the incredible pain hits me, then I collapse, out cold and weak.

"Did you honestly believe that you could defeat me?" Chaos asks. "I am all powerful! I am the darkness itself! You are nothing more then a pitiful weakling, serving the very light that you and the rest of your people actually believe it protects you. Everything belongs to the darkness! There is no hope! No Faith! No Salvation! There is only power! Chaos! Destruction! Death! Darkness!"

My body twitches a little as I start to regain conscious. "The LeiShens are fools. 'Protecters of Kingdom Hearts'! 'Powerful Keyblade wielders'. They have witnessed true power of the darkness. The very light they served didn't protect them from my own wrath. Even your little friend has witnessed such power! Fifteen years she has wasted, fighting against it. She had a choice to serve the darkness and turn the LeiShen in, but she denied it. She has learned that the light is nothing but naught. And now! It is time you learn the truth as well!"

chaos channels dark magic through his one finger. Darkness appears right underneath me, and I slowly sink into it. I don't bother fighting against it. I have lost all of my energy. All of my will.

"HA! HA! HA! HA! LONG LIVE THE LEISHENS!"

I just sink into the darkness until it swallows me whole.


	50. Light Within The Dark

**A/N: Here's where it all ends. The final chapter of the story. We are left with quite a cliffhanger, being in the hands of darkness. The final battle is still in place. Prepare yourselves for the ending. No matter what happens, you'll never! See it! Coming!**

World: The Forsaken Void/Radiant Garden

* * *

Aqua gasps in horror. It's night time and the young warrior mage is asleep in bed. She just woke up from a horrifying nightmare. She saw me die in the hands of Rasputin and the darkness. Part of her feels relieved that what she saw was a dream, but part of her knows that's what's happening right now.

The power of her Wayfinder gives her the feeling of my situation. All this time, she believed that I could conquer the darkness. But this time, she knows I'm in trouble, and she's too powerless to do anything to help me. Just like fifteen years ago.

"Aqua? Are you okay?" Aqua looks at her door, where she sees her friends walking in.

"Yeah...I'm fine." Aqua says.

Terra and Ventus approaches Aqua. Terra sits by her feet on the bed while Ventus stands beside her. "It's about Patrick. Isn't it?"

"Yeah. I just had a nightmare about him..." Aqua holds out her Wayfinder. "Then I felt his light...it's fading. He's in trouble."

"You felt it too?" Ventus asks.

"So did we." Terra says. "We have to help him."

Aqua shook her head. "No. It's fading very fast. Even if we get to him, it'll be too late."

Terra and Ventus aren't too happy to hear that. "Isn't there something we can do?" Ventus asks.

"All we could do is hope." Aqua says.

Terra and Ventus nods in agreement. They both take out their Wayfinders, pile them on top of Aqua's on her hand. The three of the gather with their hands piled on the Wayfinders then lower their heads and close their eyes.

* * *

Nothing. Nowhere. Darkness. That's all that surrounds me as I slowly sink, with the dark mists coating me. Am I dead? ...I feel like I am. There is no life. No light. No ways of escape.

In my life, I have forgotten who I am. Where I came from. What happened to my people. Is this my punishment for that? During my first year, I lived in peace with Aqua and her friends in the Land of Departure, then after Xehanort's attack, I spent the next fifteen years trying to find Aqua, rescuing her from the darkness.

I haven't done anything for my people. I never saved them from the Shadowmoon's wrath, or avenge them by defeating Rasputin. I personally thought that if I could stop them here and now, I could make up for my past mistakes.

My whole journey flashes before me as the darkness consumes me.

The night in Traverse Town, when I went into the woods to fight Father Scrooge. After the fight when I gave Sora the revival item and then listen to the recording device from Aqua, in remorse.

The Keyblade Graveyard when I battled Vanitas.

Against Frollo when he raged war against Notra Dame.

The World That Never Was, while I was battle against the Nobodies the Shadowmoon summoned against me.

My trial test against Eraqus's memorial spirit in Castle Oblivion.

The Keyblade Graveyard, first against Terra's armor, the Lingering Will, and then against Xehanort when he was possessing Terra.

In Atlantis when I was attacking the crystalized Lyle.

Destiny Islands when I was cutting down the Heartless that were trying to harm Kairi.

My duel against Seifer in Twilight Town.

The Voidful Mind in my forgotten memories back in Castle Oblivion.

Lastly, my intense battle against Ragnarok. I picture myself slashing that Heartless away with my dual wielding power in my Twilight's Dawn commend style.

My journey was long and hard. Perhaps this is where it ends. It's time I accept my fate.

"Are you really just going to give up?" A voice asks.

It's distorted, but sounds familiar. "I don't have a choice." I say, not even opening my eyes. "The darkness has alway consumed me. He's far too powerful. There's nothing I can do to stop him."

"That's no way for a LeiShen to speak." Footsteps approaches until the figure is right next to me. "I expect more from one, especially the son of the king himself."

I slightly open my eyes. I figure I can barely make out. All I see is his body, then his head, neck and part of his shoulders are covered in darkness. I recognize the armor the man is wearing. I saw it once when I was visiting my lost memories, and then when I battled Heart's Champion in the Mirage Arena.

I'm in shock. I know this man. "Wait...are you?"

"You of all people should know that light will always defeat the darkness. You have experienced what the heart of the light can do against the strongest forces of the darkness. A strong hearted person once said: 'The heart maybe weak, and sometimes maybe even give in. But deep down, there's a light that never goes out'. Let's not forget, true power does not come from the Keyblade alone."

I'm confused hearing that. "But...where then? Where does this true power come from? How do I get it?"

"You already know. They are always with you, even if they are not."

The figure dissolves until there's nothing left. I still wonder what he could have meant. What checks me by surprise is a spirit hand reaches down and rests it's hand on my heart. I look up to my right, it's Aqua.

"Mother?" I ask.

Two other hands join in. On my left, it's Terra and Ventus. I'm surprised by this. Now I understand. It's something Sora once said: "My friends are my power"

I place my right hand over my heart, and my other one grabbing the Wayfinder.

* * *

Chaos gazes down into the large dark portal I was sucked into. He smiles and chuckles with delight. Now that the last LeiShen is dead, he is free to drown all worlds in darkness. However, what happens next is something he didn't expect. A small glimmer of light shined in the middle of that dark portal.

Chaos looks down in confusion. "Hum?"

Nothing but darkness is in that portal. He leans a bit, trying to get a closer look at what's happening. The light glows in the center. "What is this?"

Chaos jerks back the second the light bursts out of the darkness. That's when I raise out of the darkness and into the light.

I'm right now in a powerful D-link form. I'm wearing my fathers LeiShen armor, with my black and white wings. In my hands are Royal HeartX and Black AngelX. My two Keyblades into χ-blade, and I'm controling them with telekinesis. Not only that, but three other Keyblades: Aqua's Rainfall, Terra's Earthshaker and Ventus's Wayward Wind, floats over my head and shoulders.

The D-link form: Five Hearts as One.

Chaos is horrified by the sighting of this. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

"You're wrong, Rasputin! You may think the darkness is all powerful, but it's not. True power does not come from the darkness, nor the light. Not even from magic or the Keyblade." I slam my fist to my hand. "It's from right here. A friend once told me: The Heart maybe weak. But deep down, there is always a light that will never go out! There is always Light within the Darkness! No matter how deep!" I hold out my χ-blade directly at Chaos. "Light and darkness, the power of twilight, is what makes me strong, but my true power is my friends! And I am theirs!"

Chaos growls with each breath, until finally he unleashes a loud aggressive roar. The true final battle begins.

I fly towards the Eye of Chaos and attack. My attacks are, well, similar to Sora's final form patterns. The three Keyblades also respond. Swift spin attacks from the Wayward Wind, heavy brutal attacks from Earthshaker and magic bolts from Rainfall.

Chaos casts Hells Inferno. "You will burn!" Chaos draws his Keyblade back then swings it, striking the ground unleashing countless bursts of fire all over the Audience Chamber.

I do Masters Dance, striking at high speed on Chaos while the Keyblades launches like arrows in all directions. "Still alive? I'll change that!" Chaos draws his massive wings wing then gives a single flap A power wind blows against me, sending me back to the other end of the room.

I cast Explosive Voltage. The Keyblades and χ-blades are launch around the room enhanced in Ruin power. They aim at Chaos and impale directly at the Eye of Chaos. They grow unstable until they unleash a massive electric explosion, then the Keyblades/χ-blade return to me. Chao suffers major damage from that.

I fly towards him and continue attacking him. Chaos attacks with his Keyblade, I block with both of my weapons and the three Keyblades. It was quite an instant block, no staggering or push backs. It was like a tennis ball hitting a metal wall. Chaos is caught by surprise by the iron block. I repel the weapon then deliver several slashes.

Chaos growls in frustration. "ENOUGH!" Chaos begins channeling another Apocalypse. "ETERNAL DAMNATION AWAITS YOU! TRAITOR!"

This time, I see it coming and prepare myself. I have the Keyblades and χ-blades swirl around me, causing a powerful twilight energy all over to shield me. The Apocalypse is unleashed. The shield causes the red lightning's to deflect. the whole roof of the Audiance Chamber literally blows away.

Chaos is vulnerable, that's when I begin using my friends most powerful abilities. I start with Ultima Cannon, grabbing the Earthshaker turning it into a massive cannon, holding it over my shoulders.

The cannon charges then unleashes a massive blast, directly at Chaos. Chaos yells in agony. My Keyblade cannon charges then launched another blast once it's fully charged.

Next, I grab the Wayward Wind, doing Light Splicer. Time freezes then I rush towards Chaos and strike him at light-speed. I move so fast, even with time frozen, I'm at five places at once, cutting down the devil. In the end, all of my five dimensions vanishes, appearing at a far off distance, then in instant, rushes directly at Chaos. By instant I mean at the very speed of light.

Then, I grab the Rainfall and do Teleport Strike. Dozens of arcane orbs appears all around me. I constantly teleport and strike them, sending them directly at Chaos.

In the end, Chaos is angry. No angry is too gentle. He's beyond that. "THAT'S IT! I WILL DESTROY YOU! BOTH BODY AND SPIRIT!"

Chaos behinds charging up ultimate hell power. I start preparing myself as well. My Keyblades and χ-blades forms in front of me. They connect in magic, forming as a Wayfinder. I begin channeling light and darkness. A heart forms in the center of the Wayfinder magic.

My full power: Connected Hearts

Chaos unleashes all his power, I do the same by unleashing a blast of twilight power through the center of the Wayfinder. Our powers clash. Our strength is equal. Chaos roars in rage, causing his power to become greater. I struggle to keep my power up, then I say a chant.

"The strength of evil is good as none! When stands before five hearts as one!"

Chaos attack stops pushing, but I'm still not strong enough.

"The strength of evil is good as none! When stands before five hearts as one!"

Spirits of Terra, Aqua and Ventus appears at my sides, putting their hands on mine, then my fathers joins in, only from behind and with his arms over my shoulders.

"The strength of evil is good as none! When stands before five hearts as one!"

My power grows stronger and starts pushing back against Chaos's.

"The strength of evil is good as none! When stands before five hearts as one!"

My power grows greater. Chaos cannot believe what is happening. "No! NO!" My power is just a foot away from him. By the time it reaches him, Chaos's power breaks and my own Connected Hearts blasts him. "NO!"

The infusion of light and darkness overwhelms Chaos. His body cracks, rays of light beaming out of its insides, then a blast of light bursts out of the Eye of Chaos.

Chaos explodes.

In the end, all that remains of him is a misty darkness, getting smaller by the second.

I slow fall until I'm inches from the ground. My D-link deactivates. I turn to my original outfit, my two χ-blades turning back into Keyblades and the other three completely drains of my power and they fall dead on the ground.

I approach to the darkness when it stops shrinking. The mist clears, revealing Rasputin on his knees, using his Keyblade for support on both hands, gasping and coughing.

"Rasputin." Rasputin looks up, directly at my glare. "It's over."

Rasputin scowls then looks down, softly growling. "It...is not over! Not while I...draw breath." Rasputin struggles to get back on his feet. He lifts his Keyblade, only to have it sink to the ground. It's much heavier for him to wield. He has lost a lot of strength. "It will...never end!" Rasputin lifts his Keyblade using two hands. "Until the LeiShen's...Meet their END!"

Rasputin gives a single swing. It's weak and pathetic. I was able to block it with just one Keyblade, with no attention or even any try or care. He could have so easily disarm me.

Rasputin pathetically attempts to attack me by fails everytime. "Die! ...DIE YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

After the tenth strike, that's when I counterattack. A heavy hard strike. That disarms Rasputin and knocks him back. Not only that, but his necklace: The Eye of Chaos, flies right off of him when he's launched back.

Rasputin lands right in front of the throne, beaten. He takes the moment to gather some energy he has left. On his hands and knees, he notices he's missing the Eye of Chaos. He gets very nervous like he is knocking on death's door, cause he will be.

"Looking...for this?" Rasputin looks at me with horror as I hold the Eye of Chaos in my hand. I drop the artifact in front of me. I hold my Keyblade above it, set it right on the Eye of Chaos, then give a hard, twisted pull.

The Eye of Chaos cracks, beginning to become unstable. "No!" Rasputin get son his feet, rushing towards me. The second he's in front, I kick him, sending him back to the throne.

The Eye of Chaos slowly bursts unstable hell energy. I raise my Keyblade. "This is for Aqua!" I stab my Keyblade on it, cracking the Eye of Chaos some more.

Rasputin rushes back until he's in front of me. He's on his knees trying to take the Eye of Chaos, but I fight him back with my other Keyblade. "Give it back!"

"This is for my family!" I impale the Eye of Chaos again, breaking it even further.

"No! Stop! You have no idea what you're doing!" Rasputin pleads as he struggles.

"And this! This is for you!" I raise my Keyblade as it enhances in twilight energy. "Hasta la vista! Traitor!"

For my final strike, I give the Eye of Chaos a heavy slam and it shatters. All of it's unlimited power is unleash. The burst of unleashed power knocks me back. Rasputin stands on his knees as all of the fire and darkness swirls around him in a pillar. Rasputin looks up in horror, a shadowy image of Chaos is on top. It blasts a meteor of darkness directly at Rasputin.

Rasputin shouts in agony as the darkness destroys him. Soon enough the whole unleashed power fades away. Rasputin falls on his knees as his skin begins to melt away, with his robe covering all the gruesome. When he's skinless, his skeleton is all that remains, until it turns into dust and all that dust gets blown in the wind.

I get up looking at what remains of Rasputin: My fathers crown and his Keyblade. I slowly approach the two items. I stop when I'm in front of them and I look down at the Keyblade. It turns to darkness and then dissolves until it vanishes.

Rasputin is now dead.

I turn my attention to the crown. I kneel down to pick up. This crown belongs to my father. I know that when my time has come I would wear it. But for what reason? The LeiShen's are gone now, and their world...my world is gone along with them.

I know what I must do.

I approach before the throne. I summon my Royal Heart Keyblade and then plant it directly on the throne, then I gently rest the crown right on the hilt of the Keyblade.

I created a memorial grave for my father and the rest of my people. I take a few steps back then give a respectful bow. "Rest in peace, everyone."

I give the Keyblade one final look then turn and make my leave.

I wonder around in my destroyed world until I reach to the portal out of here. I walk but didn't pass through it. I look over my shoulder, giving one last look at my broken world. I take a deep sigh, look forward then walk through the portal.

* * *

As soon as I leave the Forsaken Void, I return to Radiant Garden. Everyone, especially Serah and Aqua, were excited for my return. They pretty much thought I would be killed. That kind of hurts even through they still had faith in me.

I tell everyone what happened, how I return to my doomed world. The downfall of Rasputin and the Shadowmoon. To Terra, Aqua and Ventus, Eraqus's spirit saving me from the forces of the darkness. Hearing that only saddens them, especially Terra and Ventus when Eraqus apologizes for his mistake of destroying them.

What I have also done was that I created a new Keyblade, since I would want to stick to Dual-wielding for serious battles. The new Keyblade I have made is Unbreakable Connection. It's made out of the three Keyblades that Terra, Ventus and Aqua once wielded.

Unbreakable Connection is a long range Keyblade with the blade of Earthshaker, with the rainfall blade coiled around it, the hilt guard of Rainfall and the Key tip of Wayward Wind. The keychain at the end is a mini version of my Wayfinder.

It has served as a strong weapon indeed.

Tonight, everyone hangs out at Merlins. Tifa is serving drinks at the kitchen bar. Everyone's having conversations with each other, laughing as well.

"No way! He did?" Yuffie asks.

"Yep! Just one swing and Terra sent Ventus flying." Aqua says. "He sure did get quite a lecture from Eraqus and I." Yuffie, Rinoa and Noel laughs while Ventus and Terra looked ashamed and embarrassed. "To be fair, Ventus is smaller and he was still recovering from grave harm."

"I still can't believe Patrick was able to defeat Rasputin." Riku says. Riku is having a conversation with Leon, Sora and Serah. "I mean, sure he is strong, but from what I've heard Rasputin should have been unbeatable."

"He is pretty clever. Always finds a way to solve problems or defeat his enemies." Leon says. "He should never be underestimated."

"Well, there was still that time when he died to that giant Heartless in the darkness." Sora says.

Leon crosses his arms. "Well...that's true."

As the conversation goes one Serah feels a bit unease. She walks towards a window and looks out to see me just sitting on one of the short cliffs of the Square Central.

I just look up at the skies, lost in thought. I have done it. I brought Aqua back from the darkness, as well as Terra and awaken Ventus. Got us a new home and family. Yet I still can't shake off the feeling that I haven't defeated the Shadowmoon. If there's one thing I know is that Xehanort and Rasputin are both stubborn.

Serah walks out of the house and approaches to me. Once she's behind me she puts a hand on my shoulder. "You don't think it's over, do you?"

"Rasputin and the darkness that commands him are not so easily...banished." I say. "I fear this is only the beginning."

"Maybe you are right." Serah smiles. She gets on her knees and wrap her arms around my shoulders. "But none of that matters. You brought back your friends. You also still have us. You also defeated the Shadowmoon. Your people may now rest knowing Rasputin is defeated, and that you are safe."

I give a small smile and a single chuckle. "You're right." I look at Serah over my shoulder. "Even if he does return, I will be ready to defeat him again."

"That's the Patrick I know." Serah stands back up. "Come inside."

I nod then I get back on my feet and follow Serah inside.

**EPILOGUE**

**The bonds that tie our hearts are an unbreakable connection.**

King Mickey is sitting on his desk in the library. He is writing another journal about my journey against the darkness and the shadowmoon. My courage and bravery in conquering the darkness, and being the last LeiShen who survived the assault should be forever remembered for generations to learn.

After all, the whole story about the LeiShens was only a rumor or just a legend. Nobody really knows if the last LeiShen actually existed...until now.

"There we go." Mickey closes the book and puts it on the shelve.

**The smallest light of hope and conquer the strongest of darkness.**

Aqua is pretty depressed, sitting on her wheelchair in her room. I stand right behind her trying to give her some counciling. Lately she's been bumped about losing her ability to walk. It has caused a major loss in her life.

"I know you're upset, but it can't be that bad." I say.

"It is. I can't fight. I can't cook. I can't even make my own bed." Aqua says. "How can I get through life if I can no longer feel my legs?"

I remain silent for the moment, then I make an offer. "I can do all those things for you." Aqua looks at me, surprised by my offer. "Consider myself as your own private butler."

Aqua laughs a little at my little joke. At least that cheers her up. "I appreciate it, but I can't do that to you."

"Oh no, I insist. After all, you've done so much for you." I say. "Just don't start calling me 'daddy'."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of it." Aqua says with a giggle.

While we are having our moment, we were interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing. We both look to see it's only Sora.

"Sora? What are you doing here?" I ask.

Sora approaches us. "I remembered something a few years ago back on the Islands." Sora says. "I heard a story of how a man who was once paralyzed was able to walk again."

Aqua and I are both surprise to hear that. "What are you saying?" Aqua asks.

"There's a therapist on the Islands who can help you." Sora says. "I told her what happened and she said she's willing to help. But it's all up to you if you want to do it."

Aqua and I exchange looks. I know I would want to help Aqua get back on her feet, but there is nothing I can do to help her. If Sora is saying that there is someone who can help her walk again, this is a choice for Aqua, and her alone, to make.

**When one journey ends another awaits.**

It's night time and everyone is asleep.

A mysterious man is right now on a computer, browsing through the websites. The figure moves his mouse and clicks with his bandaged arms, with his skeletal metal mask resting right next to the screen.

Right now, he's looking at the website for the Mirage Arena, opening the ventrilo to hear the conversation those online are having.

"_No matter how many times I watch it, I still can't believe it! Someone has actually won the Keyblade War tournament!_" Rukocheese14 says.

"_Me neither! Only a LeiShen had gotten so far. Maybe he's one of them_!" Silencer says.

"_No way man! The LeiShen's are long gone. They're extinct!_" Lemonstar says.

"_But wasn't there a part in the story where one lived? Maybe it's true._" Silencer says.

"_I've heard it too. If that part is true, then I defiantly believe he's indeed that one!_" Shadowhunter says.

"_Yeah, what's with that mysterious guy in the cape during the 40th round? Is he part of the fight?_" Silencer says.

"_Doubt it, since that armor guy was Patrick's next opponent but then dies shortly afterwards. Plus he ran away in a middle of the fight._" Rukocheese14 says.

"_I agree. What was up with that? It's like he doesn't know how to put up a fight. Even during the worlds most difficult tournament._" Lemonstar says.

"_In that case, the only way to find out is to ask him ourselves._" Shadowhunter says. "_First thing in the morning, I will apply to that tournament and fight through the rounds until I find him._"

"_Ah! We have a brave soul here. If any luck, he might just show up on the first round._" Silencer says.

"_Or better yet, why not enter that children tournament, Black Pond. Maybe he'll show up thinking you're a pretty weak challenger._" Lemonstar says.

Everybody in the ventrilo laughs, making fun of the figure. He just stars at the screen with his yellow eyes.

The figure closes the website and turns to the security footage of the world Traverse Town. The screen focuses on the first distract. The mysterious man holds his hand in front of the screen, channeling dark magic.

Some shimmering happens in one part of the distract. It takes a while for the small rift to open. Two creatures come out of the rift, a Flowbermeow and a Komory Bat. Nightmare Dream Eaters. The figure watches his Dream Eaters enter the real world from the dream world.

He even smirks with delight.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**A/N: Can you all guess who the mysterious figure/Living Nightmare is?**


End file.
